NATURE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1880
TURUS
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ern
on ames |
eacvans
cae any
ON THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SPECTRA OF
STARS?
HE author presented, in December, 1876, a preli-
minary note on the subject of this paper, together
with a diagram of the spectrum of Vega compared with
that of the sun.
The author refers to a paper by Dr. William Allen
Miller and himself in 1864, in which they describe an
early attempt to photograph the spectra of stars.
Other investigations prevented the author from re-
suming this line of research until 1875, when a more
perfect driving clock, by Grubb, enabled him to take up
this work with greater prospect of success.
The author describes the special apparatus and the
methods of working which have been employed.
In consequence of the very limited amount of light
received from the stars, it was of great importance not to
spread out the spectrum to a greater extent than was
necessary for a sufficient separation of the principal lines
of the spectrum. The spectrum apparatus finally adopted
consists of one prism of Iceland spar and lenses of
quartz. The length of the spectrum taken with this appa-
ratus is about half an inch, from G to O in the ultra-violet.
The definition is so good that in photographs of the solar
spectrum at least seven lines can be counted between H
and K.
Though there is considerable loss of light in the
employment of a slit, still, for the great advantage which
it affords in obtaining spectra of comparison, a narrow
slit one-three-hundred-and-fiftieth (35) of an inch in
width was always employed.
This slit is provided with two shutters. By means of
these through one half of the slit a solar or other spectrum
may be taken on the same plate for comparison, and for
the determination of the lines in position in the spectrum.
This apparatus was adapted toa Cassegrain reflector with
a metallic speculum of 18 inches aperture. The small
mirror was removed and the slit of the spectrum appa-
ratus placed at the principal focus of the mirror. A
simple but perfectly successful method was adopted by
which the image of a star could be brought exactly upon
the slit, and retained there during the whole time of
exposure, sometimes for more than one hour, by a system
of continuous supervision, and instant control by hand
when necessary.
Various photographic methods were tried, but the great
sensitiveness which may be given to gelatine plates,
together with the special advantages under long exposures
of dry plates led finally to the exclusive adoption of this
method.
The photographs were examined and the lines measured
by means of a micrometer attached to a microscope of
low power. These measures were reduced to wave-
lengths by the help of solar and terrestrial spectra, use
being made of M. Cornu’s map of the ultra-violet part of
the spectrum, and of M. Mascart’s determination of the
wave-lengths of the lines of cadmium.
Photographs have been obtained of the stars Sirius,
? Abstract of paper by W. Huggins, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., read before
the Royal Society, December 18, 1879, with additions by the author. ,
VOL. XXIL—No. 534
43
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Map of Photographic Spectra of Seven Stars.
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270
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
Vega, a Cygni, a Virginis, » Ursz Majoris, a Aquilz,
Arcturus, 8 Pegasi, Betelgeux, Capella, a Herculis, Rigel,
and a Pegasi. Also of the planets Jupiter, Venus, and
Mars, and of different small areas of the moon.
The spectra of Sirius, Vega, a Cygni, a Virginis, » Ursze
Majoris, a Aquilz and Arcturus are laid down in the map
on the scale of M. Cornu’s map of the ultra-violet part of
the solar spectrum.
The stellar spectra extend from about G to O in the
ultra-violet.
Six of these spectra belong to stars of the white class. In
1864 the author pointed out the features in common in the
visible spectra of these stars. These photographs present a
remarkable typical spectrum consisting of twelve strong
lines (seven only of these were given in the preliminary |
note in 1876). The least refrangible of these is coincident
with the hydrogen line (y) near G. The second with /
also a line of hydrogen. The third with H. K if present
at all, is thin and inconspicuous."
These lines, H and K, are coincident with lines in the |
| calcium spectrum, and are usually attributed to the
vapour of this substance. Now there is another pair of
| strong lines in the spectrum of calcium, which in M,
Cornu’s map have the wave-lengths 3736°5 and 3705's.
There are no strong lines in the white stars coincident
with these lines. A glance at the map will show how
remarkable is the arrangement in position of these twelve
typical lines. They form a great group in which the
distance between any two adjacent lines is less as the
refrangibility increases. It is at once suggested that
| they are connected with each other and represent probably
one substance, and two at least belong to hydrogen.
It should be stated that the continuous spectrum ex-
tends in the photographs beyond S, but no lines can be
detected beyond the twelfth line at A 3699. For the sake
of convenience of reference the author distinguishes these
lines by the letters of the Greek alphabet in the order of
refrangibility, beginning with the first line beyond K of
the solar spectrum. The wave-lengths of these lines are
as follows :—
Photographic Spectrum of a Lyre.
Hydrogen
near
4340
4101
3968
3887°5
3834
3795
3767°5
3745
3730
3717°5
3707°5
3699
PeEyanPunn
- O32" OY Da THEO
10.
II.
12.
In all these stars the line K is either absent or very
thin as compared with its appearance in the solar spectrum.”
In the spectrum of Arcturus, which belongs to the solar
type, this line exceeds in breadth and intensity its con-
dition in the solar spectrum. The white stars may,
therefore, be arranged in a series in which the line K
passes through different stages of thickness, at the same
time that the typical lines become narrower and more
defined, and other finer lines present themselves in in-
creasing numbers. Arcturus seems to present a spectrum
* The author refers to Mr. Lockyer’s paper, Proceed. R. S., No. 168,
1876, in which he Suggested that photographs of the spectra of the brighter
stars might show modifications of this annater of the lines of the calcium
spectrum, and that such modifications would confirm his views on the
dissociation of this substance. fe is also made to Proceedings R.S.,
December, 1878, Fig. 1, where Mr. Lockyer gives a fuller statement of his
views on this and other points in connection with different classes of spectra
of ~~ stars.
essrs. Dewar and Livei ve found in their experiments similar
relative changes of intensity of the lines of calcium corresponding to H and
K in the emission spectrum of calcium.
on the other side of that of the sun in the order of changes
from the white-star group.
The spectra of the planets were taken on the plan sug-
gested by the author in 1864, in which the planet’s
spectrum is observed or photographed together with a
daylight spectrum. These photographs show no sensible
planetary modification of the violet and ultra-violet parts
of the spectrum of the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.
Numerous spectra of small areas of the lunar surface
have been taken under different conditions of illumination,
and during eclipses of that body. The results are wholly
negative as to any absorptive action of a lunar atmo-
sphere.
The author is preparing to attempt to obtain by photo-
graphy any lines which may exist in the violet and ultra-
violet spectra of the gaseous nebulz. He also points out
the suitability of the photographic method of stellar
spectroscopy, first inaugurated by his researches, to some
other investigations, such as—differences which may pre-
sent themselves in the photographic region in the case of
the variable stars, the difference of relative motion of two
stars in the line of sight, the sun’s rotation from photo-
graphic spectra of opposite limbs, and the spectra of the
different parts of a sun-spot.
In the hope of throwing light on many physical ques-
tions suggested by the stellar photographs, the author has
taken for comparison a number of terrestrial spectra,
especially of hydrogen and calcium, under different
physical conditions. As he is still pursuing this inquiry,
he reserves an account of this part of his work.
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
271
VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE
A Treatise on Vocal Physiology and Hygiene, with
Especial Reference to the Cultivation and Preservation
of the Voice. By Gordon Holmes, L.R.C.P. (Edin-
burgh: Churchill, 1879.)
* is one of the most singular facts connected with
music that, notwithstanding the very wide spread of
musical education, the kind of performance which is within
the most general reach, namely, singing, receives the
least amount of earnest culture. Almost every indi-
vidual in ordinary health possesses the means of singing,
which consist simply of a voice that can produce musical
tones, and an ear that is capable of guiding its inflections.
The latter qualification is, it is true, not socommon as the
former ; but in all probability the cases where the human
pitch are extremely rare,
mankind what a small proportion actually sing; and of
those who do, what a still smaller proportion even aim at
singing well !
regard to that small fraction of mankind who attempt
to sing-in some fashion or other. The great majority of
these never /earn at all; they sing by the light of nature,
using their voices in any way that will produce the notes
their ears guide them to; and, no doubt, with naturally |
good voices and naturally good ears, music may some-
times result, which is quite tolerable, though infinitely
inferior to what it might be made. But many persons
do “learn to sing,” and instruction of this kind forms a
tolerably large professional avocation. What, then, does
this imply? In most cases, unfortunately, little or
nothing, so far as the true art is concerned.
ordinary teacher, we know pretty well what will be done:
there may be, just as a matter of form, a few exercises |
given; but the great aim will be to teach her the notes of
certain songs, so as to provide her with a small repertory
for social exhibition. This, however, is rather teaching
music than singing, and the same may be said of the large
number of classes for vocal performance in parts, where
nothing is attempted beyond attention to the pitch of the
notes used, and the time they are sung in. If we goa
little further and include the cases where the teachers en-
deavour to give their pupils some idea of style, we about
exhaust the category of vocal instruction which is common
in private circles, and we need not wonder at the fact
that, to educated judges, ordinary amateur singing, when
it is not offensive, is at all events wretchedly poor. To
learn to sing in the proper sense of the word is quite a
different thing from learning songs; the voice is an
instrument, the capabilities of which, in many respects,
transcend those of any other known, and the cultivation
of the voice, and of the singer’s power over it, so as to
use it to the best advantage, requires not only careful and
judicious training, but long, hard, and laborious practice.
It is consequently only among the professional ranks
that we are accustomed to expect thoroughly good singing,
and even here, whether from deficient education, imperfect
powers, or defective taste, it is not often that what we
expect is really found.
We might extend these remarks, in some measure to
If a girl who |
finds she can sing a little asks for some lessons from an |
speaking. Although the natural use of the voice suffices
for common practical purposes, there are cases where
considerable art and education are required to employ it
to the best advantage, and yet little or no attention is
paid to the matter, as is evidenced by the miserable
attempts at untrained elocution we are so often doomed
to listen to, in preaching, reading, and public speaking.
The stage is an exception, as there the artistic manage-
ment of the voice is indispensable, a fact at once perceived
when amateur acting is compared with that of the members
of the dramatic profession.
Undoubtedly one of the great causes of the evil in
both these cases is the general ignorance as to the nature
of the voice and the manner in which it admits of
| management ; and we welcome with pleasure the appear-
; ance of a work which sets forth these and kindred
ear is absolutely wanting in the discrimination of musical |
Yet out of this great mass of |
topics in a way that cannot fail to be largely useful.
Although written by a man who is fully conversant with
all the technicalities of his subject, it is yet essentially
| popular in its style, and may be studied with advantage by
| all who are interested in the cultivation of the voice for
Let us consider for a moment how the case stands in |
any object whatever.
The introduction and the first chapter are devoted to
an Historical Review of the Origin and Progress of Vocal
Culture, and to an explanation of the general nature of
musical sounds. These are somewhat lengthy, occupying
one-fourth of the book; but one may fairly allow for the
author’s wish to render his treatment of the subject com-
plete. In the remainder of the work he is more clearly
on his own ground. Chapter II. is devoted to a descrip-
tion of the anatomical construction of the vocal organs,
and Chapter III. to an investigation of their physiological
mode of action. Both these are admirably treated of, and
are illustrated, where necessary, by copious figures. The
author gives, under the latter head, an interesting survey
of the various theoretical attempts that were made to
explain the vocal phenomena before the great invention
of the Jaryngoscope in 1854, by Manuel Garcia, gave the
power of actually observing the processes at work. By
the aid of this ingenious apparatus, the explanation be-
came comparatively easy. There are, however, some
points, particularly connected with the falsetto voice,
which are yet somewhat obscure.
Chapter IV. is the one to which, probably, the greatest
importance is to be attached ; it treats of ‘‘ The Physio-
logical Principles cf Vocal Culture.” The author says :—
“ The cultivation of the voice amongst civilised nations
has for its object the complementary development of the
powers of organs which have already attained a high
degree of perfection in the performance of their functions.
Through the exertion of influences acting from without,
and not directly controlled by the will, man proceeds
instinctively and intuitively as a mere agent to the evolu-
tion of speech and language. But here, as in many other
of his relations, beyond a certain point the unerring guide
of nature leaves or only follows him with a perpetually
widening interval, and his further advance is made volun-
tarily and with self-consciousness of his aim. . . . Hen-e
we may recognise two grades in the employment of the
voice—the first necessitated by the conditions of social
life as a means of intercommunion, and the second under-
taken with a view to the zxsthetic ovservation of the
listeners.
“ The technical training of the voice lies immediately
in the hands of teachers of elocution and singing. €n
272
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
their taste and genius, as well as on the aptitude and
natural vocal gifts of their pupils, depend in the greatest
measure the success obtained and the perfection of the
result. But whatever methods be adopted, the base of
operations is vital organisation and action, of which the | , : :
Abel in an address as president of the Chemical Section
of the British Association in 1877, that the comparative
ease with which triumphs may be won in the field of
| organic research has led the younger chemists to under-
estimate the importance of rigorous analytical work by
| which their science has been built up.
true apprehension and normal guidance must lead most
directly and certainly to the desired end.’
This, we take it, is the great aim, and the most useful
tendency of the book, namely, in the first place to make
known to those who desire to excel, either in singing or
in elocution, that something more is necessary than they
can obtain by the mere light of nature; and secondly, to |
enunciate the important truth that the art of using the
voice to the best advantage can only be effectively taught
by the aid of a competent knowledge of the nature and
capabilities of the natural organ—matters of which great |
numbers of those who profess to teach have absolutely no
idea at all.
is conveyed in this work, both to teachers and learners,
can scarcely be overrated. It is not possible here to
enter into details ; suffice it to say that the chapter treats
fully of vocal force, timbre, compass, and execution ; of
the modes of development; of the management of respira-
tion ; of the vibrating elements, the resonance apparatus,
and the articulation ; and it adds some useful data as to |
the treatment of that troublesome vocal defect—stam- |
mering. ;
The last chapter is devoted to a subject of vital interest |
to those who have to make public use of the voice, namely, |
The maintenance of the vocal powers is |
vocal hygiene.
a matter of no less importance than their cultivation ;
but there is much ignorance and misunderstanding on |
this point, and the advice the author gives, coming as it
does from one having authority, is most valuable.
WILLIAM POLE
THE COPPER-TIN ALLOYS
Preliminary Investigation of the Properties of the Copper-
Tin Alloys. A Report, Edited by Prof. R. H. Thurston,
of a Committee on Metallic Alloys, Presented to the
United States Board (Washington: Published at the
Government Printing Office, 1879.)
T is not a little remarkable that the study of the
metallic alloys has been so generally neglected.
Alfred Riche observes that this may in part be due to
the fact that the characteristics upon which we rely in
ascertaining the constitution of bodies are usually inap-
plicable to alloys. It is difficult for instance to determine
with accuracy such physical constants as their melting
points, for in many cases molecular rearrangement takes
place when the alloys are heated, and, again, the properties
of alloys are often greatly altered by the presence of
impurities in such small quantities that it is impossible to
estimate them by the balance.
Systematic efforts to clear up the obscurities with which
the structure and nature of alloys are surrounded have,
however, not been wanting. Thus, not to mention the
well-known experiments of Hatchett, published in 1803,
in 1855 Calvert and Johnson communicated to the British
Association the results of a series of experiments, and
in 1862 this body requested the late Dr. Matthiessen
to continue his experiments on the chemical nature of
alloys, the result being a report which certainly modi_
The value, therefore, of such information as |
| fied the views concerning them that had to that time
| prevailed. England then has certainly not been behind
| other countries in actual advance in metallurgical pro-
| cesses, but it is nevertheless true, as was pointed out by
With regard to France the researches of Levol and of
| Alfred Riche will always hold a high place in scientific
history ; and in Germany there are many classical re-
searches, such as those of Karsten and of Wertheim.
The volume before us affords abundant evidence that
the Americans are not unmindful of the importance of
metallurgical investigation. It appears that a committee,
| consisting of Prof. Thurston and Messrs. L. A. Beardslee
and David Smith, was appointed in 1877 by the Govern-
ment of the United States, to “assume the charge of a
series of experiments on the characteristics of alloys,”
and the first result of their labours is an octavo volume,
edited by Prof. Thurston, of nearly 600 pages, illustrated
with photographs of fractures, and plates of curves repre-
senting the various physical constants of the alloys of
copper and tin. The committee hope soon to present a
similar report on the alloys of copper and zinc, and a
third report on the triple alloys of copper, tin, and zinc
will follow. They state that ‘‘ the whole field has now
been explored and the useful alloys are proved to occupy
but a limited portion of its great extent, and it has now
been shown that a comparatively narrow band, extending
| from ordnance bronze on the one side of this triangular
| territory to Muntz metal on the other, contains all the
best of the alloys that are generally useful.”
The necessary researches were conducted in the me-
chanical laboratory of the Stevens Institute of Technology,
and the committee trust that this preliminary work will
prove ‘‘to have been so satisfactorily done that its repe-
tition may never be required, and that in future attention
may be confined to matters of detail which have been
shown to be of most promise.’? The committee did not
seek to determine the character of chemically pure metal,
but endeavoured to ascertain the practical value of com-
mercial metals, melted in the way that is usual in the
preparation of alloys in the foundry. The purest metals
that could be obtained in commerce appear, however, to
have been selected, the greatest care being taken to
ascertain by a minute analysis the amounts of impurities
in the metals employed and the composition of the
twenty-seven alloys forming the subject of the Report.
After carefully noting the characteristics as to fracture,
colour, and hardness of each alloy, their resistance to
transverse stress was examined. Tests by tensile stress
then follow, and the results agree, in general, very closely
with those given by transverse stress. The alloys were
then submitted to torsional stress in a machine devised
by Prof. Thurston, and, if the autographic strain-diagrams
given by the machine are compared with the curvés
representing resistance to transverse and tensile stress, 4
marked similarity will be evident. Experiments proved
that the maximum resistance to compression is given by
the alloy containing 69°84 per cent. of copper, and the
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
273
minimum by pure tin. A second series of alloys was then
prepared, the mixtures of the constituent metals being
made without reference to the chemical equivalents or |
the atomic weights of the metals, but a constant difference
of 5 per cent. being maintained between each two alloys
in the series. An attempt was made to obtain the tem-
perature of pouring of this series by a well-known calori-
metric method, but the results, of course, only profess to
be approximate and relative, as the specific heats of the
alloys are deduced from the mean specific heats of the
constituents, and are assumed to be the same in the
liquid as in the solid state. The numbers given, however,
differ widely from those usually accepted, the “‘tempera-
ture of casting’’ of copper, for instance, being given as
1,909° C., while M. Violle (Comptes Rendus, t. \xxxix.
p. 702) considers its melting point to be 1,054°C. It is
probable therefore that the metals were poured at tempe-
ratures considerably above their points of fusion. The tests
by transverse stress were repeated on this series of alloys
and the results led the committee to conclude that they
“do not seem to corroborate the theory given by some
writers, that peculiar properties are possessed by alloys
which are compounded of simple multiples of their atomic
weights or chemical equivalents. . . . It does appear
that a certain percentage composition gives a maximum
strength, and another certain percentage a minimum, but
neither of these compositions is represented by simple
multiples of the atomic weights. Besides, there appears
to be a perfectly regular law of decrease from the maxi-
mum to the minimum strength which does not seem to
have any relation to the atomic proportions, but only to
the percentage composition.”’
These conclusions are of the utmost interest and are
certainly somewhat startling ; it may be well to point out
therefore incidentally that, since the report
lished, it has been shown in this country that in the curves
representing the induction-balance effect and the electrical
resistance of the tin-copper alloys two critical points are
occupied by alloys in which the constituent metals are
combined in the very definite atomic proportions repre-
sented by the formulze SnCu, and SnCu, respectively.
In summing up the results, the committee point out
that the curves of resistance to tensile and torsional stress
agree very closely, the curve of transverse resistance being
similar, but the compression-curve is very unlike either of
the others, the maximum compressive resistance being
‘* reached by one of the brittle alloys, the tensile strength
of which is not far from the minimum. It appears, there-
fore, that the tensile and compressive strengths of the
alloys are in no way related to each other; that the
torsional strength is closely proportional to the tensile
strength, and that the transverse strength may depend, in
some degree, upon the compressive strength as is indi-
cated by the approach of some portions of the transverse
curve to the compression curve, but is much more nearly
related to the tensile strength, as is shown by the general
correspondence of the curve of transverse with that of
tensile strength. From the curves of transverse, tensile,
and torsional strengths it is seen that the strengths of the
alloys at the copper end of the series increase rapidly with
the addition of tin, until about 4 per cent. of tin is reached.
The specific gravities obtained by the committee are
corrected for temperature and are reduced to the standard
was pub- |
of water of maximum density. The results obtained by
Mallet, Alfred Riche, and other experimenters are plotted
side by side, but it is much to be regretted that those of
the committee are only represented by a mean curve
which at first sight is rather misleading.
The appendix to the volume contains several reprints
of important monographs on alloys. There is also a
valuable bibliography which might, however, have been
more complete, and should surely have contained refer-
ences to such important work as Mallet’s on the density
of metals in the fluid state, to some of the metallurgical
researches of Eliot and Storer, and to Knox and Mac-
gregor’s on the thermo-electric properties of certain alloys.
Viewing the results as a whole there can be no question
that metallurgists have reason to be grateful for the col-
lection of facts which have been so laboriously gathered,
and we trust it will not seem ungracious to express the
wish that the work had been undertaken in this country.
W. CHANDLER ROBERTS
OUR BOOK SHELF
The Spiders of Dorset, with an Appendix containing
Short Descriptions of those British Species not yet
found in Dorsetshire. By the Rev. O. Pickard-
Cambridge, M.A., C.M.Z.S., &c. From the Proceed-
ings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian
Field Club. Vol. i., pp. 1-235, with Three Plates, 8vo.
(Sherborne: L. H. Ruegg, 1879.)
ALTHOUGH this book has been in our hands for several
months, we have hitherto refrained from noticing it,
hoping the second volume might come to hand, and thus
have enabled us to give a more complete analysis. In
the meantime the importance of the work deserves at
least a preliminary examination.
Mr. Pickard-Cambridge’s reputation as an arachnologist
is a sufficient guarantee that any work written by him
will be carefully executed. He states that his first idea
| was simply to give a list of the species found in the
county in which he has so long been resident. Subse-
quently it was determined that the work should be mono-
graphic so far as the Dorsetshire species are concerned.
It was then found that the species of the county included
over two-thirds of those that occur in Britain, and it was
decided to give diagnostic characters of the remainder,
thus rendering the work a Handbook of British Spiders.
There was urgent need for such a work. With the
exception of a semi-popular outline sketch there has been
nothing claiming to be monographic since the now vener-
able Mr. Blackwall published his magnificent Ray Society
Monograph in 1860-63. This work noticed 304 species.
Mr. Cambridge states that 510 are now known to him as
British, and that 358 of these have been found in Dorset-
shire. Considerable discrepancy exists in the nomen-
clature used as compared with that of Mr. Blackwall. This
has mainly resulted from the well-known labours of Dr.
Thorell, who, in his ‘‘Synonyms of European Spiders”’
(notable as a work in the English language published in
Sweden), was the first to bring about tolerable uniformity
in this respect. But very little inconvenience arises
therefrom. Mr. Cambridge’s handbook cannot supersede
Mr. Blackwall’s work with its magnificent coloured plates.
Both must be in the hands of all students of Araneidea ;
the former elucidates and supplements the latter.
Mr. Cambridge commences with a copious “ Introduc-
tion’’ of forty-two pages, written in a pleasing and popular
style, so far as is compatible with a due explanation
of the anatomy, &c., and very readable to all so far as
his general remarks on the habits, means of capture,
preservation, &c., are concerned. Some of his remarks
274
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
we hope to analyse more particularly hereafter, when we
have the complete work before us.
Two important suggestions present themselves to us,
as tending to render the book more useful. The
first of these it is now impossible to apply. We
think it would have been far better had the author
intercalated the diagnoses of those British species not
found in Dorsetshire amongst the descriptions of the
others ; this no doubt would have been done, but for the
original indecision in the plan of the work. It is not yet
too late to consider the other suggestion, viz., that a table
of the family and generic characters be given at the end
of the second volume. The expression at p. xxxvii. of
the introduction, to the effect that “the subject of classi-
fication being practically exemplified in each of the
ensuing descriptions, need not be further gone into here”
is not in keeping with the popular aims of the work, and
is not fair to those students who have not already ac-
quired a considerable amount of that knowledge possessed
by the author.
The three plates are excellent, and in Mr. Cambridge’s
usual analytical style. The work reflects great credit
upon the local Society that issues it, which deserves the
support and hearty thanks of all (we fear but few) who
are interested in British Spiders,
Studies on Fermentation; the Diseases of Beer, their
Causes, and the Means of Preventing them. By L.
Pasteur, Member of the Institute of France. <A Trans-
lation, made with the author’s sanction, of ‘‘ Etudes
sur la Biére,” with Notes, Index, and original Illustra-
tions by Frank Faulkner and D. Constable Robb, B.A.
Oxon. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1879.)
WE thoroughly agree with the following sentence from
the English edition of Pasteur’s important work: “‘ The
debt which English brewers owe to M. Pasteur can
hardly be over-estimated;” but, further than this, we
believe that the debt which biologists of all countries owe
to him for his researches is also a very large one, for it is
by a study of these low and simple forms of life that they
May expect to learn something of the very beginnings of
life itself.
On the appearance of the original work a very elaborate
notice of it appeared in these pages (NATURE, vol. xix. p.
216) ; we need, therefore, now only call attention to this
excellent translation, which contains many notes supple-
menting the facts mentioned in the original edition, several
original illustrations, which cannot but be of great value
in the microscopical study of the changes in the liquids
with which the brewer has to deal, and an excellent index,
which immensely facilitates the using of the volume.
This book may be, in the first place, one of special
interest to the practical brewer, but it has a nearly equal
interest for every careful student of nature, and it is so
clearly written, with all the technical expressions so well
explained, that we doubt not that the ordinary reader
who takes it up will not put it on the shelf again without
a perusal. The chapter on the physiological theory of
fermentation is one we would specially commend to the
general reader, to whom it may open up a quite new
field for thought.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed
by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or
to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. No
notice is taken of anonymous communications.
[ The Editor urgently — correspondents to keep their letters as
short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great that it
is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even of com-
munications containing interesting and novel facts.]
Ice-Crystals
_I Do not know whether any satisfactory explanation can be
given of the different forms assumed by ice-crystals on the
different substances on which they may be formed. These forms
are very various. During an intense frost some years ago |
observed upon the handrail of a wooden bridge a perfect forest
of ice-crystals very closely resembling the form of ferns, standing
upright, or rather at right angles with the surface from which
they sprang, with stems, midribs, and fronds, the only difference
being the prominence of rectangular arrangements.
Everyone has seen the variety of forms assumed on window-
panes, where the crystals do not take erect positions as they did
in the case last mentioned, but lie flat upon the surface of the
glass.
My object, however, now is to direct attention to another
form assumed by ice-crystals which is comparatively rare, and
which seems to me to indicate the action of forces of a very
peculiar kind.
When frost occurs suddenly as a change from a mild atmo-
sphere highly saturated with moisture (which is common in the
climate here), a peculiar form of ice-crystal is often formed upon
rotten branches lying on the ground under trees, This form is
that of long silky filaments, from two to three inches long, like
finely spun glass, These seem to effloresce from the rotten wood,
and form plumes of the most exquisite delicacy and whiteness,
often curling towards the ends, and lying over the branch from
which they spring.
It is curious that this form of ice-crystal seems never to .be
attached to any rotten branch of which the bark is unbroken ;
but whenever the bark upon such branches has been split,
broken, or exfoliated, then from the exposed ligneous surface
in certain stages of decay, these lovely plumes of ice rise up,
pushing their way from underneath the projecting bits of bark,
then bending round them and curling over them,
What is it in rotten woody fibre which determines this pecu-
liar form of the ice-crystal? The phenomenon seems to be due to
some special ‘‘lines of force” connected with this special mate-
rial under special conditions.
During the last two nights we have had sharp frost succeeding
some very mild and very damp days, In the mornings it ap-
peared as hoar frost upon the grass, but during the whole day,
long after all hoar frost had disappeared, there were scattered,
under all the old woods, shining spots of snowy whiteness, and
on going up to these one found invariably that they were bits of
rotten branches, with exfoliated bark, and bearing these peculiar
lumes.
. If any of your contributors can give any scientific explanation
of this phenomenon, they would much oblige. ARGYLL
Inverary, January 13
Re-Reversal of Sodium Lines
THE notice of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science in NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 143, misrepresents, of course
unintentionally, certain remarks of mine upon ‘‘dark” spectrum
lines, I have not, and never have had, the slightest doubt that
the dark lines of the solar spectrum are true absorption lines.
The lines in question, which 1 am inclined to think may not be
due to absorption, are only those produced in certain peculiar
cases. If, for instance, a sodium flame be ‘‘urged,” by in
creasing the intensity of the flame and the quantity of metallic
vapour present, each of the two D-lines becomes double, as is
well known, widening out and showing a dark stripe down the
centre. Hitherto this dark stripe has been universally ascribed
to the absorption produced by the envelope of colour-vapour
surrounding the flame. But if a lime-light be placed behind the
flame, then, as I have found by repeated experiment, this central
dark stripe re-reverses, and we have the scdium lines quadruple,
and dark upon a light ground. The experiment is rather delicate.
The bead of fused sodium bicarbonate in the flame of a Bunsen
burner is placed some two inches from the slit of a spectroscope
of sufficient dispersive power to separate the sodium lines about
a degree; then the incandescent lime is set four or five inches
behind the flame, and so as to bring the edge of the shadow of
the bead just on the slit. ,
Now it seems to me that this re-reversal shows that the dark
stripe which appeared before the lime-light was placed behind
the sodium flame, could not have been a mere adsorption-line,
but must have been due to a real doubling of the line, the
substitution of ‘wo maxima of radiation for a single one ; I am
unable to see how, on the contrary supposition, the centre of the
line should have Jess absorptive power than the two pairs of lines
which show black when the lime is brought into action. _
May I mention in this connection a very pretty experiment
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
275
which shows that the ordinary dark line is simply due to absorp-
tion? Put into the spectroscope, in place of the micrometer
wires, an opaque diaphragm of tinfoil with two narrow slits in it
at right angles to each other, thus 1. Put the sodium flame
alone in front of the collimator slit, and by a little management
one of the bright lines can be brought to shine through the
vertical slit in the diaphragm, while it can also be seen as a sort
of star in the horizontal one below. Now bring the lime-light
behind the flame; the brightness of the vertical slit will at once |
| them ; and as for his defying any one to prove that the insect dies
considerably increase, but the horizontal slit below exhibits what
was before the star, as an intensely dar spot in the midst of the |
bright continuous streak of colour, showing very strikingly that
the apparent darkness of the line when no diaphragm is used,
is a mere effect of contrast.
The paper referred to in the report as a discussion of ‘‘the
want of achromatism of the ordinary achromatic object-glass,”
was a comparison of the secondary spectrum of a glass of the
usual form and of great excellence, formerly used by me at
Dartmouth College, with that of the instrument now used here.
The latter is of the Gauss form, and is found to be decidedly
superior in its colour corrections, while it is inferior in no other
respect. C, A. YOUNG
Princeton, N.Y., January 5
Death of Captain Cook
ON reading a paper reprinted from the Afemoirs of the Boston
Society of Tanaet Hts, vol, i, part 3, entitled “ Notes on
the Volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands,” by William T.
Brigham, A.M., I find at page 370 the following strange
paragraph : ‘*Starting from the western coast at Kealakeakua
Bay—the memorable scene of Cook’s punishment—the island
may be described,” &c.
With writers accustomed to the correct use of the English
language, the word punishment infers crime. Its use here by
Mr. Brigham may be only a bilious outpouring of New England
puritanism, but as it stands on the face of a grave scientific
paper, it is a permanent accusation against Capt. Cook, whose
reputation and memory as one of our greatest navigators and
geographical discoverers, deserve the reverence of every English-
man, If there be any charge against Capt. Cook’s reputation or
moral character, which can justify the slur gratuitously cast upon
his character by Mr. Brigham, in the above passage, lzt it be
substantiated by one of his countrymen in your pages or else-
where, but if there be no grounds on which this grave :lur is
justifiable, then let it not stand unchallenged by your permitting
this letter to appear in the pages of NATURE.
London, January 14 ROBERT MALLET
Electricity of the Blowpipe ‘‘ Flame”
I HAVE discovered what I believe to be an important fact, viz.,
that the blue pyrocone produced by the blowpipe from an
ordinary gas-burner is not merely magnetic, but possesses
polarity, for its point attracts the north pole of a compass, and
repels the south pole. W. A. Ross
Acton House, Acton, W., January 17
Suicide of Scorpion
I MUST crave a bit of your space to beg Dr. Hutchinson
(vide NATURE, vol, xxi. p. 226) to look to facts when he would
refute anything based upon fac/s, and not trust to inferences.
My experience concerning scorpion suicide points to the fact
that the ‘‘ central temperature” of a circle of glowing charcoal
embers (z.¢, glowing when first placed on the ground in the open
air, and left to die out gradually), one foot inner diameter, was
never greatly in excess of the summer heat, often above 40°
C, in the shade in these parts, and no doubt greater at Peshawar.
I keep no record of this, but I have just made a circle of glowing
embers of the size of walnuts, one foot in diameter, on the
kitchen floor, before the open window, suspending immediately
a Casella standard in the centre and one inch from the ground,
and a highly graduated Secretan, two inches from charcoal and
one inch from the floor, both bulbs free, the result being :—
Centre.—After three minutes, 49°°50 Cent. ; at five minutes it
had fallen to 46°, and continued to fall gradually.
Two inches from charcoal,—The heat declined gradually from
76° C., to which it rose quickly in the beginning ; general tem-
perature of kitchen = 15°25 Cent. So much for Dr, Hutchin-
son’s glowing inference ! which points to little short of stupidity
on my part.
The fact is that so far from being cruelly scorched, the scorpions
I have watched did not appear out of their element, except when
they tried to escape ; then they quickly receded before burning
themselves, and it was after many such attempts that they
‘* pierced their head with their sting and died,” as I have stated.
As to your correspondent’s theory that ‘‘the Aeat fills the
scorpion,” it does not follow from the experiments as I conducted
in consequence of the self-inflicted sting, for my part Iam no
entomologist, and consequently am unable to make the necessary
post-mortem examination. I simply state what I saw several
times with a very good pair of eyes, though not, of course,
‘*patent double-million-magnifying gas microscopes of extra
power.” I now confirm the statement, and submit that if Dr.
Hutchinson’s paternal solicitude for Ais scorpions (which feeling,
mind, I respect) prevents him making such cruel (?) tests, he
should be content to doubt, and not pit unsound zx/erences
| against tangible evidence, much less hurl defiance at the heads of
practical men, F, GILLMAN
Prov. Jaen, Linares, Spain, January 12
The Fertilisers of Alpine Flowers
A FEw years ago I stated my belief in this journal that lepidoptera
are far more frequent visitors and fertilisers of flowers, and
that from this cause by far more flowers are adapted to cross-
fertilisation by lepidoptera, in the Alps than in the lowland.
But it was then impossible for me to give a sufficient number of
facts. Now, therefore, having continued my observations in
the Alps during six summers, and being about to prepare a de-
tailed work on ‘‘ Alpine Flowers, their Fertilisation by Insects,
and their Adaptations to them,” I will here give a statistical
statement of all visits of insects on flowers which I have
observed (1) in the lowland, (2) in the Alps generally, (3)
above the boundary of trees; the numbers under 1 being
extracted from my work, ‘‘ Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch
Insekten, &c. ” (Leipzig, 1873).
Tabular Statement of the Visits of Insects to Flowers, observed by
myself
3. Above the
1. Inthe | 2, In the Alps
boundary of trees.
Lowland. generally.
| 4. Dif-
. |
cies of | ferent
visits to
insects. | boxcar
owers.
|
| & Dif-
c i ©
ferent |“ Sp
visits to
owers.
a.§
cies of
134
930
519
1,190
o
Coleoptera we ae | > | 83 | 33 |
Diptera w+. see ose 2 598 | 3 | 1, 210 |
Hymenoptera... «+. 2,75 183 | 88
Lepidoptera ... o 36 220 | 2, 148 |
| i
Other insects ...
|
Total | 5,232 | 2779
Hence of 1,000 different visits to flowers (differing either by
the species of flower or by the species of insect) those by—
j
| 2. Inthe |3. Abovethe
L. Le - | Alps gene- boundary of
eee i. a trees.
|
48°22
334°65
186°76
42831
2°10
Coleoptera are
Diptera ”
Hymenoptera ,,
Lepidoptera ,,
Other insects ,,
89°66 59
324°93
241°95
371 5°
2°62
305°49
525°7%
69°77
9°37
1000°00 | 1000°00
Lippstadt, January 10 HERMANN MULLER
** Ideal” Matter
In Nature, vol. xxi. p. 185, you published a letter from
Herr v. Nudeln, in which he alluded to the researches of Pro-
276 NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
fessors Hans and Lobwirmski respecting ideal matter of various
degrees. Can you inform me whether any English publications
have appeared on this subject, and if not, what foreign works
would be best suited to give an insight of the results that have
been arrived at to one who can devote but a limited time to such
investigations ? >
Surely the conclusion suggested by your correspondent (viz.,
that the moon in its composition closely resembles caseine) is
intended only as a joke ; for, assuming the equation given,
M = C,,N,0,H,,
and even granting that the quantities m fg are in such propor-
tion as to make the right-hand member of the above equation
assume the form of the chemical formula for caseine, there is
surely no reason why the mass of the moon (which your corre-
spondent has chosen to denote by C) should be interpreted as
carbon, nor its direction of motion N as nitrogen, nor its velocity
O as oxygen, Percy R, HARRISON
Sun-Spots
In the ‘‘ Life of Charlemagne,” written by Eginardus, one of
the Emperor’s household, and afterwards Abbot of St. Bavon’s,
in Ghent, occurs the following passage :—
** Per tres continuos viteque termino proximos annos et solis
et lunz creberrima defectio, ac in sole macula quedam atri
coloris septem dierum spatio visa.”
‘*In three successive years nearest to his death [there were] very
frequent eclipses of the sun and moon, and in the sun there were
seen certain spots of a black colour, for the space of seven days.”
This life, written between 814 and 843, and referred to by the
writer’s contemporaries, has been collated with several MSS.
by the Bollandists, who givé it in full in their Acta Sanctorum
under January 28. It is a curious, if not a valuable, contribu-
tion to the early history of sun-spots, and suggests questions
which some of your correspondents may care to consider.
HENRY BEDFORD
All Hallows College, Dublin, January 15
A Clever Spider
IN a letter I have just received from my brother at Ronde-
bosch, near Cape Town, he narrates the following, which I
thought might interest some of the readers of NATURE :—
** On Friday I was much interested in watching a spider and
male glow-worm, The spider was a common long-legged house
spider who had a web in the corner of the room. It was an
aristocratic spider, in fact. Presently a male glow-worm flew
into the web, and in a few minutes the spider had wound him
round and round till no Egyptian mummy was more securely
housed, Just as this operation was being finished, a second
glow-worm flew into the web, a dong way from the first. Off
goes the spider, and soon he, too, was encased in silk. Then I
noticed that the spider went three times backwards and forwards
between the head of glow-worm No. 2 and a main strand of his
web, After this he went round cutting all the threads around
the glow-worm until it hung by the head strands alone. The
spider then fixed a thread to the tail end, and by it dragged the
carcase in the direction of glow-worm No. 1 (presumably the
larder). As soon as the rope attached to the head was taut, the
spider made the rope he was pulling by fast to a strand of the
web, went back, cut the head ropes, attached himself to the
head, and pulled the body towards the larder, until the tail rope
was taut. In this way, by alternately cutting the head and tail
ropes and dragging the glow-worm bit by bit, he conveyed it to
the larder, where it hung alongsde mummy No.1. Another
presently flew in. After ‘he was enwrapped in silk, the spider,
whether on purpose or not I cannot. say, cut the last thread by
which he hung, and dropped him to the ground. Whether he
thought that this morsel might get ‘high’ before he could eat
it I cannot say, I should say that the prey was some twenty
times the weight of the captor.” Li, A. MoRGAN
St. Thomas’s Hospital, Westminster, January 12
Erratum in Paper on Tidal Friction
AN erratum has been pointed out to me in my article in
NATURE, vol. xxi. p, 235, and I should be glad to correct it.
The forty-second line of the second column of p, 236 rans :—
‘* so that the earth will rotate faster than the moon revolves.”
By a slip of the pen I here wrote ‘‘faster” instead of
** slower.” G. H. DARWIN
January 16
AFGHAN ETHNOLOGY
‘THE events now in progress on the north-western
frontier of British India have for the third time in
this century directed the serious attention of statesmen,
historians, and ethnologists to the remarkable people
who give their name, or rather one of their names, to the
north-eastern division of the Iranian table-land. During
the empire of the Sassanides the whole of this region,
from Persia proper to the right bank of the Indus and
from the Koh-i-Baba, Ghor and other western continua-
tions of the Hindu-Kiish to the Arabian Sea was known
as Khorasan, that is, Khoristan, the Land of the Sun or
the East. This term, with the gradual reduction of the
Persian sway, has shrunk to the proportions of a province
on the north-eastern frontier of the Shah’s estates, and
has been replaced further east by the ethnical expressions
Afghanistan and Balochistan, the lands of the Afghans
and Baloches. But these expressions, as so frequently
happens, are so far misnomers and deceiving that the
lands in question harbour many other peoples besides
those from whom they are now named. In Balochistan,
for instance, the most numerous, powerful, and influential
element is not the Baloch at all, but the still unfathomed
Brahfii, from which circumstance it has even been
suggested that the country ought rather to be called
Brahuistan. A similar suggestion could not certainly
well be made with regard to Afghanistan, for here there
is no other people who can for a moment compare with
the Afghans in numbers or political importance. Still
the subjoined rough estimate of the population according
to nationalities will show that it is very far from being
homogeneous :—
Tranian stock ...
Iranian stock ...
3,520,000
1,000,000
Afghans and Pathans
Tajiks sce anton
Hindkis ... .. ... Hindu stock ... 500,000
Mongolo-Tatar stock 600,000
Kataghans Tirki stock ... .... 200,000
Badakshis 4 .- Galcha stock... ... 100,000
Baloches ... ... ... «. Iranianstock... ... 100,000
Kizl-Bashes ... ... ... Tirkistock ... ... 75,000
Kohistanis and Siah Posh Galchastock ... ... 50,000,
Hazaras and Aimaks
6,145,000!
It will be noticed that in this table are included all the
races forming part of the present Afghan political system
taken in its widest sense, whose northern frontier is now
marked by the upper course of the Oxus. Before dealing
with the Afghans proper, with whom we are chiefly
concerned, a few words may be devoted to each of the
minor elements, all of whom continue to keep aloof from
their neighbours, seldom or never intermarrying, and
mostly retaining their own national customs, dress,
religion, and speech. No general amalgamation has, in
fact, yet taken place of these heterogeneous ingredients,
so that we cannot speak of the Afghan in the same sense
as we do of, for instance, the Italian, French, or English
nations. The Afghan race, though by far the most nume-
rous, has been politically predominant only since the death
of Nadir Shah (1747), and its rule has been far too
checquered by intestine strife and foreign troubles to have
allowed time or opportunity for the slow process of
* This figure exceeds by about a million that usually given as the total
population of Afghanistan. But recent exploration has shown that many of
than had been
= tribes ry more numerous _7 iy , and as our
owledge o! country increases, it wi to contain
even a gronter population than thas hore gives”
- A hh Ff Hh So eet oO
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
277
absorption to have made any perceptible progress. Next
to them by far the most important are— )
The Tajiks, who, here, as elsewhere in Central Asia,
represent the old civilised Iranian communities, co-
extensive with the former limits of the Persian empire,
but since the ascendency of the Tarki, Mughal, Afghan,
and Brahui races, now forming politically the subject,
socially the settled, trading, an agricultural elements in
these regions. Persian, or some variety of it, is still
everywhere their mother-tongue ; hence, in Afghanistan
they are collectively known either as Parsivan, z.¢. Persian-
speaking, or Dehgan, .e. peasants or agriculturists. “The
Tajiks are Iranians, a remnant of the old Persian popula-
lation subdued by the Afghans, but still speaking Persian
and retaining the Persian type of features” (F. von Stein,
in Petermann’s Mittheilungen for March, 1879); religion,
Sunnite. Remotely allied to them are—
The Hindkis, of Hindu stock, who have been long
settled here chiefly as traders, forming numerous commu-
nities, especially in the eastern districts, said to be mostly
of the Shatri caste; religion Brahminical, speech
Hindustani.
The Hazaras and Aimaks, occupying the northern
highlands between Bamian and Herat, the former in the
east, the latter in the west, are undoubtedly of Mongolo-
Tatar stock, though now speaking rude Persian dialects.
They claim descent, some from the Toghiani Tiirks, some
from the Koreish Arabs, others from the old Kibti race,
but seem really to be military colonists settled here by
Jinghis Khan, Manku KhAn, and Timfir. The Aimaks
(the term simply means horde, tribe, clan), are of the
Sunni, the Hazaras of the Shiah sect, and are conse-
quently fiercely opposed to each other. Owing to this
circumstance they have often been regarded as of different
races, but “there seems no reason to doubt that the
Aimaks and Hazaras are the same people, though sepa-
rated ... by the different sects they have adopted”
(Col. C. M. MacGregor, “ Afghanistan,’’ p. 246); type,
high cheek bones, with small grey eyes, scant beard, and
low stature. The Aimaks occupy the Ghér highlands,
which must have been almost uninhabited when they
settled there, for we read in the National Chronicle that
about I190 A.D., Sultan Shéhab-ed-din removed all the
Afghan tribes from the Ghér to the Ghazni highlands,
“in order to become the bulwarks of the seat of empire
and hold in awe the infidels of Hindustan.’’ Of the
Aimaks there are four main divisions, the so-called
“Char Aimak”’ (“ Four Hordes’’) : Taemfiris, Taemiinis,
Hazara-Zeidnats, and Suris, with a total population,
according to some authorities, of about 450,000, including
those now settled in Khorassan. The Hazaras, numbering
at least 150,000, occupy the region stretching for 250
miles west from K4bulistan, and are divided into thirty-
eight main branches with numerous subdivisions, under
chiefs bearing various titles, such as Khan, Sultan,
Ikhtiar, Vali, Mir, Mettar, and Turkhan, and hitherto
practically independent of the DurAni Amirs. Akin to
them are—
The Kataghans, a main branch of the Uzbeks, forming
the bulk of the population in Kunduz and Balkh, that is,
the region now known as Afghan Turkestan, stretching
from the northern slopes of the Hindu-Kfish to the left
bank of the Upper Oxus. They take their name from a
legendary Kata, from whom they claim descent in two
main streams, the Beth-bula and Cheguna, with five and
eleven sub-divisions respectively, each named after one of
Kata’s sixteen sons. Most of the tribes occupy the
country south of the Oxus, but 7,000 families are now
settled north of that river, consequently in Bokhara
territory; religion Sunnite, speech Tirki; type, small
stature, broad face, high cheek bones, sparse beard, small
oblique eyes. Are now mostly settled agriculturists and
e
rs.
The Badakhshis, or natives of Badakhshan, in the
|
extreme north-east, beyond Kunduz, and abutting on the
Pamir table-land, are a pure Aryan race, intermediate
between the Iranians and Hindus, and of the same stock
as the highland Tajiks, whom Ch. de Ujfalvy groups
under the collective name of Galchas,' Chief divisions,
Darwazi, Roshani, Shugnani, and Wakhi, or WakhAni;
religion Sunnite, speech Aryan, with Persian and Indian
affinities. The Wakhi is a distinct variety, retaining
many old Sanskritic elements, hence R. Shaw thinks it
may be 4a relic of a primitive organic Aryan language
current here before the race issued from the Pamir, or
divided into Vedic and Zendic. It would be interesting
to compare it with the Jagnéb, which de Ujfalvy tells us
is unintelligible to the other Galcha tribes of Fergh4na.
A Galcha skull which has found its way to Paris, has
been examined by P. Topinard, who pronounces it to be
identical with those of the early Keltic Aryans, If their
speech also should prove to be of an organic Aryan type,
as constituted previous to the dispersion, de Ujfalvy’s
view might be unreservedly accepted that “Ces pays
mystérieux recélent sans doute le secret de l’origine de
notre race.” ?
The Baloches, of Iranian stock, and regarded by the
Afghans as their brethren, are represented in Afghanistan
chiefly by a number of hill tribes in the south-east corner,
and by some nomads in the south and west along the
Lower Helmand. Most of them belong to the Rind
section of the Baloch race, the more important being
the—
Kasranis and Bozdars, on north-west border of Dera
Ghazi Khan: numerous sub-divisions, the Bozdars alone
with sixty-four septs (Major Minchin),
Khosahs, south of Sanghar Pass towards Shikarpur ;
four divisions: Kalulani, Bakiani, Toniani, Sariani.
Lagharis, overlooking the Sakhi-Sawar Pass, Dera
Ghazi frontier ; four divisions: Aliani, Hadiani, Boglani,
Habtiani ; fifty-six sub-divisions.
Gurchinis, south of the Lagharis, about Chachar Pass.
Maris, Sham district, east, north, and north-west of
Kachi; four divisions: Ghazani, Loharani, Bijarani,
Mazarani; twenty-two sub-divisions. The Mazarani
have separated from the rest, and are now settled west
of Sebi and north of the Bolan Pass,
Rigtis, south of the Maris; two divisions: Firozani,
Zarkani ; thirteen sub-divisions.
Kayanis, Seistan, former rulers of that country; by
some said not to be Baloches, but Kakar Afghans.
Religion, Sunnite; speech, a rude, uncultivated variety
of the old Persian; type, regular Caucasian features,
light or brown complexion; hair often chestnut and even
fair; eyes light grey and sometimes blue, especially in
centre and north. Of the many forms of the national
name, Baloch, Biloch, Beliich, Balfich, Bilich, &c., Ba-
loch is the best, coming nearest to the true pronun-
ciation, as Pottinger assured his French translator, M.
Eyriés.
The Kisl-Bashes, or “Red Heads,” known collectively
as Gholam-Khani or Gholam-i-Shah, “servants of the
King,” are of Tirki stock, and have been settled in
Herat, the Gulkoh Mountains, but chiefly in Kabul since
the time of NadirShah. The term was originally applied
by Shah Ismail to the Nikalu, Jaw4nsher, and four other
trusty Tarki tribes to whom he owed his successes. But
since then they have become a sort of brotherhood “much
akin to the Beyyadiyah or ‘ White Boys’ of Oman, and
bearing some analogy tothe Mormons” (W. G. Palgrave,
“Report on Province Trebizond,” 1868). Those of Kabul
form three divisions: the Jawansher, originally from
Shisha, the Afshar, Nadir Shah’s tribe, and the Morad
Khani, composed of all the other Tirkis who have from
t “ Le-Badakch4n est également habité en grande partie par des Tadjiks
montagnards ” (Budi. de la Soc. de Géo., March, 1879, p. 250). But Robt.
Shaw (“High Tartary”) says that physically they approa ch nearer to
Kashmuirians and other Aryans of Northern India. i borne out by
their speech, which is more akin to the Sanskritic than to the Iranic family.
® Loc. cit, p. 252.
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
time to time removed from Persia to K4bul ; religion,
Shiah, with secret rites; speech, Persian, and amongst
themselves, Tirki ; are a very fine race, very fair, with
an evident mixture of Iranian ard Tatar blood.
The Kohistanis and Siah Posh (“ Highlanders”’ and
“Black Clothes ’’) forming the bulk of the population in
Kohistan, Swat, Kafiristan, Chitral, and generally of the
southern slopes of the Hindu-Kiish down to the left bank
of the Kibul river, are of pure Aryan stock, allied to the
Kashmirians, but probably more closely to the Badakhshis
and Wakhis. The Kohistanis are Moslem, the Siah Posh
still mostly pagans, hence called K4firs, or Infidels, by
their neighbours, and their country Kafiristan. Their
speech, of which there are ten distinct varieties (Major
Tanner), is described as neo-Sanskritic, akin to Dardu
and Lughmani. But it has never been critically studied,
and may possibly prove to be pre- rather than neo-
Sanskritic ; is in any case of great philological interest,
having been isolated from the kindred tongues since the
eruption of Islim in the tenth century ; type, regular
features, blue and dark eyes, hair varying from light
brown to black, broad open forehead, tall and well-made.
But General A. Abbot (“ Correspondence,” edited by C.
R. Low, 1879) distinguishes between a fair type with blue
eyes, the aristocracy “descended of the Greeks’’(?) and
a very dark type, the aborigines. The Kohistanis north
and north-west of Kabul, C. R. Markham says, are mainly
Tajiks (Proc. Geo. Soc., February 2, 1879, p. 117); but
they are more probably of the kindred Galcha stock, for
those of Swat are represented as closely akin to the Siah
Posh whom I take to be of this race. They form two
main sections, the Torwals and Garwis. They took a
large share in the recent events about KAbul and have
just been reduced by the British. The Safis, who have
also lately been heard of in the same neighbourhood, are
simply Siah Posh converts of the Tagao valley, Kunar
district, north of Kabul ; three divisions : Wadin, Gorbaz,
and Miisawid ; speech Pashae, closcly allied to Lughmani
and Kohistani of Swat.
We come now to the Afghans proper, whose original
home seems to have been the K4bul valley, whence they
spread westwards to the Ghér country, southwards to the
Suleiman mountains, and more recently down the Hel-
mand and Arghandab valleys to Kandahar.’ They call
themselves Bani-Israel, ‘‘ Sons of Israel,” claiming descent
either from Saul or from the ten tribes, for on this point
they do not seem to be quite clear. But this is of the
less consequence that both claims are alike inadmissible.
Notwithstanding a certain Jewish expression, which they
have in common with the Armenians and other races of
the Iranian plateau, they are beyond all doubt an Aryan
and not a Semitic race, so far as these terms can be at all
used as racial rather than linguistic designations. And
here it may be well to remember that both Aryan and
Semite belong equally to one ethnical stock, convention-
ally known to anthropologists as the Caucasian or Medi-
terranean, and that they can often be distinguished one
from the other only by the test of language. We have
the same phenomenon in Europe, where but for their
speech no one would ever suspect that the Basques of the
western Pyrenees were other than a somewhat favourable
specimen of the Aryan race. This test, however, is
abundantly sufficient to sever them from that connection,
and the same test must suffice to remove the Afghans
from the Semitic to the Aryan group.
Their most general and apparently oldest national
name is Pukhitin or Pakhtiin, as it is pronounced by the
Khaibaris, and which has been identified with the mdxrves,
of whom Herodotus heard through Scylax (509 B.C.) as
situated about the junction of the Képhes (KA4bul) and
* Till the time of Sultan Babur, founder of the Mughal empire (beginning
of sixteenth century) the Afghan language was still confined to the north-
eastern and western highlands, Persian being e!sewhere current, as it still is
mostly in the lowlands.
Indus. Their country they still call Pukhtin-khwa, which
is equivalent to Watan-khwa, or “Home Land’’; their
language is always called by them the Pukhti, softened
in the west to Pushtd, and from Pakhtdna, the plural of
Pakhtfin, comes the form Pathan by which they are
known throughout India. This word has been ccnnected
with the root Pukhta, a hill, so that Pukhtun would mean
Highlander. But such derivations are seldom trustworthy,
and it may be questioned whether any people have ever
called themselves A/z//-men, though often enough so
named by their neighbours.
The alternative national name, Afgb4n, by which they
are exclusively known in Persia and Europe, has been
regarded by some as synonymous with Pukhtfin, both
meaning “set free;” but by others it has been con-
nected with Acvakan, the Agvaka, or “ Horsemen,” of
the Mahabh4rata, who are supposed to be the Assakani,
or Assekenes, of the later Greek historians. The natives
themselves draw a distinction between the two names,
so that although all Afghans are Pukhtana, not all
Pukht4na are true Afghans. The latter term is properly
restricted to the descendants of a legendary Kais,
one of the first apostles of Islam (ob. 662), from
whom, through his three sons, Saraban, Batan, and
Gurgiisht, are supposed to spring the 277 Afghan
khels (tribes) proper. Of non-Afghan khels there are
reckoned 128, making 405 Pukhtana khels altogether. Cf
these 105 are Sarabdni(from Saraban), 77 from Batan, in
two divisions ; Batanai 25, and Matti 52, these last being
known as Ghilzae; 223 from Gurgisht, also in two divi-
sions; Gurgfishtai 95, and Karalanai 128, these last being
the non-Afghan or Pukhtana khels as above. In this
traditional account of the national genealogies the distinc-
tion between the true Afghan and non-Afghan tribes is
already obscured, for the latter are made to descend from
Gurgtisht, one of the three sons of Kais, who is elsewhere
represented as the ancestor of the true Afghans alone.
But the confusion becomes intensified when it is added
that the very word Pathan, specially applicable to the
non-Afghans, and which we have seen is merely the
Indian form of Pakhtana, is explained to be a cor-
ruption of Pihtan, ‘rudder,’’ a title said to have been
conferred on Kais by the Prophet himself. Altogether
the distinction, though still maintained and recognised
by the various sections of the people, cannot at all
be regarded as racial. ‘The true Afghans occupy mainly
the western, central, and north-eastern districts— Herat,
Seistan, Kandahar, and the Kabul basin, as far east
as Peshdwar. The non-Afghans, or Pathans proper, are
found almost exclusively in the Sufed-Koh and Suleiman
highlands, as far south as the Kaura or Vahii Pass,
opposite Dera Fatah Khan. A line drawn from about
the parallel of Multdn, through this point, westwards to
Tal through the middle of the Derajat, will very nearly
form the boundary in this direction of the Pathans on the
north, and the Baloches and Brahuis on the south. This
relative geographical area suggests a possible explanation
of the distinction between the two great divisions of the
race. From their more westerly position it is obvious
that the true Afghans must have been the first to adopt
Islam, and they may have thus come to look upon their
pagan brethren of the Suleiman highlands as Kafirs,
undeserving to rank as genuine Afghans, the distinction
thus originated naturally surviving their subsequent
conversion. :
In the subjoined table an attempt is made to give, for
probably the first time, a complete classification of all
the main sections of both divisions, with their chief sub-
branches, approximate number of khels, geographical
area, and population. The difficulty of the subject, oc-
casioned mainly by the minute tribal sub-divisions, may
be concluded from the fact that a complete genealogical
tree of, say, the Afridis or the Vaziris alone, would occupy
about two pages of NATURE.
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
279
TABLE OF AFGHAN AND PATHAN TRIBES.
Main Sections,
Chief Subdivisions.
Total No.
| of Khels.
I.
Durani or Abdali
II,
Khugiani...
III.
Ghilzae or Ghilji
IV.
Visafzae ..
tenons or Mah-
mandzae
VI.
Kakars
VII.
Khataks ...
VIII.
Utman Khel ...
IX,
Bangash ...
Afridis
XI.
4
4
{|
sot
}|
S|
)
f
j
Orakzaeor Wurukzae |
‘a
Shinwaris or Shan-
waris
XIII.
Tirdes
XIV.
Jaduns or Gaduns ..
XV.
Tarins
XVI.
Povindahs
XVII.
Vaziris or Waziris ...
XVIIL
Shiranis ..,
XIX,
MG ec digg
a4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
}
|
ay
}
as)
\
“|
f
oS
| 2. Bhran : — Chin,
1. Zirak:—Popalzae, _ Ali-
kiozae, Barakzae
2. Panjpao :—Murzae, Alizae, |
Ishakzae
Vaziri ; Khairbiin ; Sherzad
1. Turan :—Ohtak, Sakzae,
Tunzae
Chalo,
Zabar, Ali, Suliman
1. Mandan :—Usman, Utman
2. Ysaf:—Isa, Ilias, Mali,
Rani
Tarakzae; Halim; Baizae;
Khwai; Utmin
Jala ;
Khidar ; Abdula
Tari; Taraki; Bolak
Asil; Shamo; Mandal; Ali
Miranzae; Baizae; Samalzae
Kuki;
Kamr ;
Malikdin ; Kambar ;
Zakha; Aka
Daolat ;
mail ;
Utman ; Sipah ; Ish-
Rabia ; Isa
Sangu; Ali Sher ;
Babur; Lohargae
Sipai ;
Shibdwani ; Seh Pat
Salar; Matkhwa; Mansur
Spin :—Shadi, Marpani, Las-
rani
i
Tor :—Bateh, Haikal, Mali
Lohani; Nasar; Niazi; Dao- |
tani; Kharoti; Miani
|| 1, Utman :—-Mahmud, Ibrahim |
- Ahmad :—Shin, Sirki, Umur|
. Mahsud : —Ali, Shahman
. Gurbaz; 5. Lali
. Chua :—Yahia, Bairam
. Sen :—Ahmad, Yahia
. Uba:—Ahmad, Manu
| Mahsud; Bahbdadin ;
Ahmad ; Mardan
Musa; Kadi; Usman; |
Musa; |
Geographical Position.
Mainly in the tract between Herat and Kandahar,
400 miles long, 80 to 150 broad; also in
Ka4bulistan.
Chiefly in the Jalalabad district, between Surk-db
and Kabul rivers. Seem to have been originally
a branch of the Panjpao Duranis.
In the country bounded N. by the Kabul river,
E. by the Suleiman Mts., W. by the Gulkoh
Mts., S. by Khalat-i-Ghilzae and Poti; 3co
miles long, tco miles broad. A branch at
Khubes and Nurmanshahr, Persia.
The hills N. of Peshawar district and in the
Yusafzae division of the Peshawar district.
The hills N.W. of Peshawar between Kabul and
Swat rivers ; chief town Lalpiira.
Extreme S.E. corner Afghanistan proper.
S.E.
Kohat ;
part Peshawar district, and S. and E. of
The hills N. of Peshawar between the Mohmands
and Yiis cafzaes,
Miranzae, Kohat, and Kiiram valleys ; said to be
originally from Seistan.
Lower and easternmost spurs Sufed Koh Mts.,
W. and S. of the Peshawar district, with Bara
valley and parts of Chura and Tira valleys,
. and W.
The Tira highlands, N of Kohat.
Parts of Khaibar Mts., E. valleys of Sufed Koh
and on borders of Bajawar.
Note.—X., XI., and XII. are collectively known
as the Xhaibaris.
In the Kot valley of the Shinwari country, but
distinct from them,
S. side Mahaban Mts. and Hazara district,
Peshawar ; said to be Kakars originally, though |
now with the Yisafzaes.
N. frontier Biloch province Kachi.
From head of Gomal S. to head of Lora river
along W. Suleiman range, their territory form- |
ing a triangle hemmed in between the Ghilzaes,
Vaziris and Kakars.
°
Suleiman Mts. from Thal to Gomal Pass, 30°-32
N, lat.
Suleiman Mts. from the Shekh Hidar Pass
southwards to the Ramak,
In the Koh-i-Daman of the Dera I-hmail district,
opposite the Sangao and Dahina Passes; same
stock as the Shiranis.
some also now amongst the Yusafzaes, |
A branch now with the Khugianis ([I.) |
Population.
809,000
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
TABLE OF AFGHAN AND PATHAN TRIBES (Continued),
Main Secticns. Chief Subdivisions.
—— Nee a —_ —
XX. Gundi; Ali; Mula; Mastu; .
he Firoz; Maru 5
Maidan; Danni; Isteah; Al-
garh; Ada; Lehwanni;
Ali; Ahmed; Bian,
Shamu
XXII 1. Khwaidad :—Babakar, Hasn
Zaemikhts ° 2. Mahamad :—Wati, Manatu, |
Mandan
XXIII. )' 1. Zapi :—Haidar, Idak
Dawaris ... ... ...) | 2. Ala/di :—Darpa, Amzani
XXIV. | Ishmail; Matin; Mandu;
Khostwals ... ...§ Shamal |
XXV Lajhwar :—Fattakeh, Agar, }
is... Andaz, Miral, Khajuri, |
Mangals... ... ... | Za Miral, ajuri |
XXVI. =
Jadrans?...
1. Gagal :—Shaho, Musa,
XXVII. Ako, Shamo
Ushtaranas ... ) | 2. Ahmad:—Tbrahim, Kadr,
Mashar
| 1. Moh :—Ahmad, Zado, Ja-
XXVIII. han, Chado
I ee 2, Mila :—Ado, Khidr, Pain-
da, Khadi
XXIX, Ramdani; Mohra; Rajali;
re Rawani
1,790
| Total No.
| of Khels.
———_
Geographical Position. Population.
Kuram valley. (See Vote under XXI.) 30,C00
Kuram valley, mostly about River Ariab and from
the Shutar Gardan to the Paiwar Pass,
| MNote.—XX. and XXI, are not regarded as true
Patbans, being traditionally sprung of two
Mughal brothers, Tor and Jaji. Edwardes
says they are Khatar Hindkis from Rawalpindi.
«In the hills between Miranzae and Kiiram.
|
| Dawari valley, 32° 57’-33° 7’ N. lat.
}
Upper Khost valley, adjoining Kiram and
Zurmat.
|
| On Lajhi river, Kuram valley, and parts of
Zurmat; are supposed to be of Mughal
descent.
East of Zurmat, E. side of Suleiman Mts.
}
|
|
| The hills opposite extreme S. part Dera Ishmail
| district. Are disowned by the Afghans, though
| apparently of Lohani (Povindah) stock.
|
| The hills west of Dera Ishmail Khan, Are said
to be of Kakar origin, though now distinct ;
Troglodytes.
Between the Bij spur of the Suleiman Mts, and
the Bozdar Biloches. _-
|
|
|
3,521,000
Of the main sections in this table, Nos. I. to XII. inclu-
sive are recognised as true Afghans, and of these, Nos. I.
and III. (Duranis and Ghilzaes) are by far the most impor-
tant and influential. Since the time of Nadir Shah, the
Durdanis have been the ruling tribe, the Popalzae division
till 1818, the Barakzae from that year to the present
time. They were formerly called the Abdali or Avdali,
a name which has been traced to the Ephthalites and
Abdela of the Byzantine writers of the sixth century. But
it was changed to Durdni from the title of Durri-Duran,
** Pearl of the Age,” assumed by the Sardar Ahmad Khan,
of the Saddozae branch of the Popalzaes, when he
usurped the supreme power at Kandahar on the death
of Nadir Shah in 1747. The seat of government was
removed from Kandahar to KA4bul by his successor,
Taimin Shah (ob. 1793), and this dynasty became ex-
tinct in 1818, when it was succeeded by the Barokzaes
in Kabul, though various descendants of Ahmad Khan
continued and still continue to assert their claims to the
sovereignty in Herat.
Although mentioned in the national genealogies, the
right of the Ghilzaes to be considered as Pukhtins at all,
much less genuine Afghans, has been questioned. There
certainly seems to be a flaw in their escutcheon, and they
themselves, who always call themselves GAz/j7, and not
1 I have not yet succeeded in obtaining the subdivisions of this section,
and will feel obliged ifany reader of NATURE will kindly communicate them,
with any other omissions or rectifications that may occur to him.
Ghil-zae, claim Tiirki descent. The national tradition is
that they entered the country in the tenth century under
a certain Sabaktakin, of the Kilich Tirki tribe “ anciently
situated on the upper course of the Yaxartes”? (Syr
Darya). But, however this be, they are now entirely assimi-
lated in habits, dress, religion, and speech, to the other
Afghan tribes, with the exception of a few who are still
nomads,
None of the other sections call for special remark
except the Povindahs, who are at once agriculturists,
traders, and warriors, their armed caravans yearly fighting
their way through the intervening hostile tribes down to
the markets of the Panjab and Sindh. The name is
supposed to derive from the Persian Parwinda, a bale of
goods, and: seems to be indifferently applied to the
Lohanis, Waziris, Kakars, Ghilzaes, or any other tribe
temporarily or permanently forming part of this singular
“trades’ union.” By far the most important section are
the Lohanis, the oldest and most numerous members of
the association, and one of the most promising elements
for the future pacific settlement and material prospects of
the country.
Physically the Afghans may be described as, on the
whole, a fine race. Their features, though often coarse
and ugly, are regular in the European sense of the term,
with the occasional Jewish cast above remarked upon.
? H. W. Bellew, “ Afghanistan and the Aghans,”’ 1879.
= -@ owt ot oe. 3lUdElC lr
os ate tt Oe) oe ee Oth & OF 8 oe om ot oe A Ue lt os ee
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
281
Type, long, oval face, arched nose, head mesaticephalous,
that is, intermediate between the round and the long,
measured horizontally, with cranial index 79 ;1 fair com-
plexion, thick beard, hair and eyes generally black, but
light blue or grey eyes and brown hair common amongst
the Rohillas,? as the Suleiman highlanders are often col-
lectively called.
The great bulk of the people are Sunnites, which is
one of the causes of their profound aversion to the
Persians, who are mainly of the Shiah sect. Yet the
nobles and upper classes, especially amongst the DurAnis,
usually converse and always correspond in Persian. The
consequence is that the Pukhtu, or national language, has
remained a somewhat rude idiom, seldom employed in
literature, and in refined society regarded as little better
than a provincial patois. Its importance philvlogically is
considerable, for though usually grouped with the Iranian
branch of the Aryan family, Dr. Ernest Trumpp (Gram-
mar, 1873), gives it a more independent position as inter-
mediate between the Iranic and Indic, while Prof. Haug,
of Munich, now regards it as a separate member of the
family. It is very harsh and spoken with considerable
dialectic variety everywhere in Afghanistan proper except
the Hazarajat, and also in the Peshawar district of British
India. The most marked dialects seem to be the Kanda-
hari, Dir, Tirhai, Peshawari, Khaibari, Tarni, Vaziri, and
Ushtarani. The Pashae and LaghmAni, sometimes in-
cluded in the list, are not Pukhtu at all, or even Iranian,
but distinctly Sanskritic, closely allied to the Siah Posh
and Kohistani. A. H. KEANE
THE METEOROLOGY OF SOUTH
AUSTRALIA *
M® CHARLES TODD sends us a well-written and
eminently practical paper on the rainfall of
Adelaide during 1878, illustrated with a map showing the
positions of the 115 stations for the observation of the
rainfall of that part of Australia and their rainfall for the
year. Along with the monthly rainfall for 1878 there are
printed the monthly means of forty-three of the stations
at which the rainfall has been recorded for at least eight
years. Since these stations extend right across the con-
tinent from Palmerston in the north to Cape Northum-
berland in the south, we are now, through this boldly
designed system of observation, obtaining just notions of
the agricultural and pastoral capabilities of the colony, in
so far as these depend on that prime factor of climate, the
rainfall,
The rainfall of South Australia depends, on the one
hand, on the tropical rains, which extend from the north
coast inland, and prevail from November to April ; and
on the other hand on the winter rains, which extend from
the south coast northwards into the interior, and prevail
for the seven months ending with October.
The tropical rains extend in a greater or less degree
across the interior, as far as lat. 26 S., falling off very
considerably, however, south of Daly Waters, in lat. 16°
15’. The breadth over which these rains spread south-
wards and their copiousness depend altogether on the
strength and southerly dip of the north-west monsoon,
and consequently in the years when this monsoon blows
over Australia with diminished force, a large tract of
territory becomes nothing but an arid waste.
A different state of things, however, prevails along the
north coast and for a few hundred miles inland. There
the summer rains fail not. At Palmerston, for example,
the average of the past nine years gives a monthly fall
y | gee Oe nae Cone.”
rom = ersian = i i i
Northern Fae * mountain, whence also Rohilcund, in
3 “* Meteorological Observations made at Adelaide Observat: durii
1876~ ~ Pane ewe ay oy Todd, CMG. FRAS
oO uu ustralia durin 8” (with Char:
Heh aa Oe One tee
for each of the four months, from December to March,
of 12°38 inches; in April, October, and November, the
monthly mean is 3°68 inches; in May and September it
is small, and in June, July, and August no rain falls.
Here, then, is a large region, doubtless with a great
future before it as regards the supply of the markets of
the world with fruits and other tropical produce, such as
have long been shipped from the rich plains of India and
Ceylon.
The winter rains occasionally extend well up into the
interior, sometimes passing the centre of the continent;
but generally they thin off about 1oo miles north of
Spencer’s Gulf, and are heavy north of this gulf only
along the Flinder’s range of mountains. The area of
minimum rainfall of the continent extends from the Great
Australian Bight to the northern extremity of the Flinder’s
Range, over the plains to the east of this range up to
latitude 25°, and spreads either way to within perhaps a
few hundred miles of the east and west coasts.
The agricultural districts of South Australia are marked
off by the method of distribution of these winter rains ; and.
roughly speaking, they lie for some distance northwards
along and in the immediate vicinity of the Flinder’s
Range, and thence southwards along the coast to Cape
Northumberland. This broadish strip of territory con-
stitutes, then, the granary of the colony ; and looking at
Mr. Todd’s rain returns in connection with the broad
physical features of the region, it is likely always to
remain so,
The close connection between the average quantity
of wheat reaped per acre and the rainfall is shown in a
table, giving for each year beginning with 1861 the yield
per acre and the monthly rainfalls deduced from the
observations of rain made over the agricultural districts
during these eighteen years. In 1878 the rainfall over the
agricultural districts was nearly 3 inches under the average,
and the yield of wheat was only 7 bushels 9 lbs., or nearly
three bushels under the average. Still more instructive
would the comparison be if, instead of lumping the districts
together, their average rainfalland average yield of wheat
were presented in a separate form.
The Meteorological Observations made at Adelaide
Observatory, published monthly, show also the rainfall at
all the rain stations with remarks, the appearance of
which cannot but be watched with the liveliest interest by
the Colonists. Thus in January, 1876, it is noted that
the monsoon scarcely reached the MacDonnell Ranges,
south of which, and as far as the east coast, drought
prevailed; and in the following month the information is
given that although 10 inches of rain fell at Port Darwin,
the monsoon rains were comparatively light and barely
reached the centre of the continent.
The observations at the Adelaide Observatory are
made, printed, and discussed with extremely satisfactory
fulness for an observatory not furnished with continu-
ously recording instruments. Of special value are the
comparisons made of each month’s observations with the
means of these months from past observations. The
sorting of the wind observations into the directions for
each hour of observation, viz., 6 and 9 A.M., noon, 3, 6,
and 9 P.M., give most interesting results. These show for
the summer months a shifting of the wind from a south-
easterly direction in the morning to a south-westerly
direction in the afternoon, a result doubtless due to the
situation of Adelaide with reference to the heated inte-
rior of the continent, as that heating varies during the
twenty-four hours,
The weak point of this system of meteorological obser-
vation is the total absence of barometrical and thermo-
metrical observations at all the stations except Adelaide.
Such observations were made at some half dozen stations
during 1861-64, but since then we miss them from the
reports. It would not be possible to exaggerate the
importance, not only to the colonists themselves, but to
282
NATURE
| Fan. 22, 1880
the whole body of meteorologists over the globe, of the
establishment of such a system of weather observation
across this continent ; and, moreover, the establishment
of an efficient system of stations with their necessary
equipment of instruments and observers, could not be in
better hands than his whose resolute will and organising
genius girdled Australia with the telegraph.
ALG}
PRO: J. G. AGARDH has taken advantage of the
leisure afforded by his retirement from the Chair of
Botany which he has filled so successfully for many years
at the Lund University, to compose another work on
algology. This very interesting volume, which embodies
the results of observations made by the Professor
during a long course of years, on the Morphology of
the Floridez, has just appeared in the 7vansactions of
-the Scientific Academy of Stockholm. It is written in the
Swedish language, and is illustrated by thirty-three
coloured plates of rare and little-known alge, and of
microscopic details of many others, beautifully executed
by Swedish artists. It treats the subject in an exhaustive
manner, as will be seen from a specification of the
contents. The work is divided into three parts, each
part being copiously illustrated by reference to the plates,
and to descriptions of different genera and species.
Part I. treats of the general aspect and outer part of
the Floridew—their development and growth; of the
root and its different forms; of the stem, branches, and
leaves.
Part II., treating of the structure of the Floridez,
describes the nature of the cell-membrane and of the
cuticle; the contents of the cell under different con-
ditions of development; the various layers or strata of
which the thallus is composed ; the connection between
the different cells, and the manner in which this connec-
tion is effected; the various ways in which the cells are
formed ; their different positions, and the manner in which
they are grouped and united with the several strata.
Part III. describes the reproductive organs, namely, the
antheridia, the sphzerospores, and the capsular fruit and
cystocarp, and concludes with remarks on the so-called
“double fructification.” This third part will doubtless
attract the attention of algologists who may be desirous of
knowing whether the views of the Professor, in regard to
the fertilisation of the fruit in the manner recorded by
MM. Bornet and Thuret, have undergone any change
since the publication of the “ Epicrisis ” in 1876. It will be.
seen from the present work, that although Dr. Agardh
has made multitudes of microscopic observations on
British and exotic algz, at all periods of growth, and
especially of the species which formed the subject of
Bornet and Thuret’s experiments, he has not materially
changed his opinion. He says that the observations
hitherto recorded are too few in number to determine the
question, and that, as yet, he has seen nothing confirmatory
of the views of the French algologists. For his reasons
and remarks we must refer the reader to the work itself.
It is to be regretted that Dr. Dodel-Port’s very interesting
observations on the fecundation of the Floridee by
Infusoria, of which an ‘abstract was given in NATURE,
vol. xx. p. 463, were not published before the completion
of Prof. Agardh’s work.
Among the verbal descriptions and illustrations are
many which are especially deserving of the attention of
British algologists. Among them will be found micro-
scopic representations of the fruit, hitherto imperfectly
described and figured, of many British alge. The cysto-
carpic fruit of Cal/ithamnion cruciatum is now, it is be-
lieved, figured for the first time. Among the whole figures
t ““ Florideernes Morphologi,” af J. G. Agardh. Kongl. Svenska
Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar, Bandet 15, No. 6 (1879).
“De Algis Nove Zelandi# marinis.”” In supplementum “ Florx
Hookerianz,” scripsit J. G. Agardh. Lunds Un‘v., Arsskrift. Tom xiv.
of algz is one of a species which, although found on ou‘
southern shores, is almost unknown to collectors. Thi°
species is Nitophyllum litteratum [Plate xxvii. Figs. 1-4)
which may—but very rarely—be seen in collections under
the name of VV. Aizi/ia. From this last-mentioned species
it differs in form, being more lobed, and also in the fructi-
fication. The sphzrospores, instead of being scattered
over the disc as in WV. Hillia, are located between the
numerous veins which mark the lower part of the frond.
Minor differences are shown in the microscopic details.
The capsular fruit of this species does not appear to be
yet known. It therefore adds another instance to the
long list of Florideze which hitherto have been found with
sphzerosporic fruit only.
There is some diversity of opinion as to the place ina
general system of classification of certain algz of a red
or purple colour, namely, Porphyra, Bangia, and Ba-
trachospermum. By some of the later algologists they
have been placed among the Floridez, but Prof. Agardh
is of opinion that they do not belong to the red sea-
weeds.
There is another group of algz, which really belongs to
the Floridez, whose position in the system still appears
to be uncertain. We allude to the family, Corad/inee.
We remember to have noticed that it is not included in
the classification of the Floridez in the Epicrisis. We
are, therefore, the more disappointed that there is no
notice of this interesting group in the present work. Dr.
Agardh’s observations with regard to it would be most
welcome. Had the present very valuable work been
written either in Latin or English, it would undoubtedly
have been more serviceable ; as it is, however, algologists
who do not understand Swedish may learn a great deal
from the carefully-executed plates. Should the work be
republished, it would be desirable to add a table of con-
tents and an index.
The “ List of New Zealand Algz’’ is a useful supple-
ment to the “‘Flora Nove-Zelandize” of Hooker and
Harvey. It consists chiefly of species which have been
brought home by Dr. Berggren. The names of Hooker
and Harvey have been generally adopted; but all the
species described have been re-examined by Prof. Agardb,
and many of them re-named in consequence of such re-
examination. The new species and varieties are about
sixty in number. Descriptions are given of new species,
and copious notes on such of the already known species
as require this addition are appended. M. P. M.
GAS AND ELECTRICITY IN PARIS
INCE the Jablochkoff light was established for the
first time in the Avenue de I’ Opéra, it may be said
that there has been in Paris a regular competition be-
tween gas and electricity. The “‘ Compagnie Parisienne
d’ Eclairage et de Chauffage’’ by gas is certainly one oi
the largest in existence, as it possesses every gas-work in
Paris, and almost every one in the vicinity. A system ol
subterranean pipes and valves connects all these estab-
lishments, so that gas generated in Courcelles can be sent
to any part of the city and suburbs if required. All these
different works were conducted as separate establish-
ments before the fusion which took place in 1854, under
the auspices of the then existing Imperial Government.
Two of these establishments are worthy of note—La
Villette, as being the largest, the site of experimental and
chemical work, and Vaugirard, where the retorts are
warmed by the Siemens’ heat-generating process. f
Each of the twenty arrondissements of Paris has its
special gas office. The Company also sells gas-engines,
and makes great efforts to develop the use of gas as fuel
for warming and cooking in private houses and shops.
The price of gas is dearer in Paris than in any other
capital of Europe, and the arrangements are difficult to
understand without an explanation of the French munici-
pal institutions.
Fan, 22, 1880]
NATURE
283
The cry for more light having been raised in
consequence of the experiments conducted with elec-
tricity, a new gas burner has been invented by the
Compagnie Parisienne, and placed experimentally in
several large public thoroughfares, principally the Rue du
4 Septembre, the Place de la République, tormerly place du
Chateau d’Eau, and a pavilion in the Halles Centrales.
The burners used in the Rue du 4 Septembre are the
largest, and all the new burners have been constructed on
the same principle. The ordinary wing burners consume
about 120 litres of gas each hour. In these improved
lanterns six burners, representing an hourly consumption
of 1,400 litres, have been placed at the six summits of a
hexagon. In the centre is a hole for facilitating the
introduction of air and better consumption. The effect is
really highly satisfactory, and the luminous effect is far
greater than in proportion to the gas consumed. A
large number of coffee-houses, theatres, and first-class
shops have adopted the burners for exterior use. It is
impossible to use them within any building except
markets, owing to the immense quantity of heat radiated,
which would be a nuisance, at least in summer time. A
number of these improved gas lamps have been placed in
the Lyons railway station (passenger department), and
will be, within a few days, used for competitive experi-
ments with the Lontin electric light.
Besides the hole for admission of air, a gas-pipe is
placed in the central part of the lamp. The aperture has
been disposed so that a small jet is always burning, and
thus for lighting the Jamp it is sufficient to open the valve
of the gas pipe, and the six peripheral burners are lighted
at once. After midnight the jets are extinguished and
the central one opened, burning with a consumption of
120 litres per hour, or like an ordinary old gas-burner.
The supplementary gas consumed by the city is paid for at
a very cheap rate, about 1s. 6d. per thousand cubic feet. It
must be said, moreover, that the Chambre Syndicale des
Tissus and other commercial institutions have organised
an agitation to oblige the Municipal Corporation to
diminish the price of the gas. The Commission of the
Municipal Council is at present deliberating upon that
important question. A large factory, the Say Sugar
Refinery, close to the Orleans Railway Station, built a
private gas-work for its own use. They consume yearly
about 6,000,000 cubic feet, and will turn their own gas-
makers.
In electrical lighting the division principle is repre-
sented in Paris by the celebrated Jablochkoff candle, and
a diversity of opinions have been expressed on the subject.
The apparatus in itself requires no description, but it is
necessary to explain the results which have been obtained. |
The Jablochkoff light, placed in an opal globe is consi- |
dered as perfectly suited to large shops and large public
thoroughfares, although the diminution of light by the
interposition of the globe may be valued at 45 per cent.
The price of effective light is enlarged in the same pro-
portion. This isthe reason why many persons suppose that
from an economical point of view it will never do except
in large open places, as the Place de la Bastille, where
semi-transparent globes are used without fear of any com-
plaints from shopmen or street passengers. But even for
illuminating these large places, it is supposed by many
competent persons that other electric lights would be |
more successful, and at all events more economical.
The only place where the Jablochkoff candles can
be considered as unrivalled are large establishments
like the Grands Magasins du Louvre, the Buttes
Chaumont and the Ville de France, where the effect
obtained is alone considered without much regard to the
expense. The illumination of the Palais de l’Industrie
during the evening sittings of the Exhibition of Fine Arts,
was a success last summer, It was not attempted a second
time during the Exhibition of Sciences Applied to
Industry, owing to several circumstances, having nothing
to do with the value of the system. At the Hippodrome
the illumination is effected by a combination of gas lights
and Jablochkoff candles, and ordinary regulators with
luminous points carefully concealed. The general effect
is quite satisfactory, but the expense in motive power is
considerable.
Jablochkoff candles are used in the illumination of
large works carried on at present on the Seine for re-
pairing the Pont des Invalides. These works have been
interrupted for the last month owing to the frosty
weather, but the Jablochkoff light has worked admirably.
The use of the Jablochkoff candles is progressing im-
mensely in private establishments, although the Municipal
Council will in all probability discontinue the electric
lighting of the Avenue de l’Opéra, the Place de la
Bastille, &c., from February 1, and keep it burning
only on the Place de Opéra. This impending resolution
is attributed to the prevalence of the gas interest.
In the first months of the Jablochkoff trial, many com-
plaints were made against the irregularities of the light ;
now extinctions are almost unknown, and the red colour
of the electric flame less frequent.
Extensive preparations have been made in the green
room of the opera for a comparison between Jablochkoff
and Werdermann candles, and will be completed in a few
weeks. It is argued by Werdermann’s opponents that his
light is merely incandescent light, and that the loss of
illuminating power is far greater than with the Jablochkoff
system. M. Garnier, the architect, being intrusted with the
task of reporting on the matter, it would be unbecoming to
give an opinion before his verdict is published. M. Reynier
has another incandescent light offering some analogy
with Werdermann’s, but the contact being more intimate,
the loss in power is larger, and the public exhibition of it
has been considered a failure. It is regarded as merely
an apparatus for lecturers wishing to show their audience
an electric light with few elements. The lamp is cheap,
and its working quite regular.
It should not be forgotten that even naked Jablochkoff
lights lose a part fof their illuminating power. A quan-
tity of electricity, which may be valued at 30 per cent.,
passes through the insulating caolin or plaster. Conse-
quently it must not be wondered at, if some inventors
tried to dispense with insulating lamina.
M. Denayrouze, the former lessee of the Jablochkoff
candle, has purchased the Jamin candle, in which the
| electric flame is directed by the attractive power of
magnetism or electricity. Private experiments have been
made, and they are preparing for an exhibition in one of
the suburbs of Paris. M. Jamin having to lecture at the
Sorbonne on January 17 it is probable that the large hall
will be illuminated by his own light on this occasion.
This light company has purchased a patent for gas
engines, and will try to use the gas under the furnace as
fuel, dispensing with it for illumination. They are said
to contemplate a public issue of shares for a large capital.
It is known that the principal difficulties in the con-
struction of regulators, has always been the absolute
fixity of the luminous point in space. It has led M.
Serrin tothe invention of his excellent regulator, But the
use of the Jablochkoff light proved that inventors had
gone too far in the way of complication, at least for
street illumination, and where no dioptric or catoptric
arrangement is contemplated. M. Suisse was the first to
start a lamp which may be regarded as a simplification of
Serrin’s original, and is working very well. The carbon
is placed upwards, and descends -in proportion as the
negative is consumed. In order to diminish that con-
sumption the diameter of the negative carbon has been
enlarged. Le BS
A number of regulators have been tried in competition
t It shows that a Jablechkoff candle placed in an opaque globe is dimin-
ished (1) 0°70 by the loss of the caolin, and (2) o’50 by the opacity of the
globe, so that it gives only 0°35 of the original illuminating power.
284
ATURE
[ Fan, 22, 1880
or will be, but Suisse’s is now the only one which works
regularly at the Lyons railway terminus, in conjunction with
a few of Lontin’s regulators and with Lontin’s generator.
The results of the illumination are quite satisfactory,
eighteen lamps being fed at an expense of 36 kilogrammes
of charcoal per hour during fifteen hours every day, and
with an expense of 9 francs per hour, including three
francs of royalty for the Lontin Company. When this
extensive space was illuminated by gas, the expense at
19 centimes per cubic metre was 6 francs per hour,
and would have been nine francs if the gas were charged
30 centimes, or the full price. The economy for the
Company results from the immense augmentation of the
light distributed. They were enabled to diminish by 70
r cent. the number of hands engaged in night work,
and the risks from fire are reduced to nothing. Lontin’s
system will be tried within a few days, in competition
with improved gas, on the platform of the passengers
department.
At the exhibition of the Palais de l’Industrie, Lontin’s
machine is working regularly every day from two to
the closing hour, which varied according to the hour of
sunset. No accident has been recorded. Siemens’s
machine has been very seldom at work, owing to several
circumstances which prevented the public from making
a direct comparison. The engineer of M. Siemens’s fac-
tory having been selected as one of the jurymen, Siemens’s
machine was 7fso facto out of competition ; consequently
we will not risk giving any definite opinion at present,
confining ourselves to known facts. We visited Siemens’s
light at the works established by the universal firm at
Passy, and we were very much satisfied with the effect
which we witnessed. The illuminating power and regu-
larity were out of question.
All the work of the Jablochkoff candle is done with
Gramme machines, which have been fitted with a current
inverter.
Lontin, Suisse, and other regulators are worked with
continuous currents, which is considered as more advan-
tageous.
Three different magneto-electric generators are before
the public: Gramme, Lontin, and Siemens, based on
similar principles, having a strong similarity in many
respects, each of them claiming priority. We cannot
presume to give a definite opinion on their special value,
or on the value of their respective claims. The question
can only be settled by the city or the Government
deciding for the illumination of some part of the city or
of some large public buildings.
We can state, at all events, that the Meritens Company,
has started new machines, which we witnessed working
with regularity at the Continental Hotel on the occasion
of a great ball; that the Alliance machine, although
excellent for lighthouses, has proved too heavy, too ex-
nsive, and too cumbrous for ordinary purposes. The
ontin machine is rotated at a rate of 200 or 250 turns
per minute, and its rival from 700 to 800, which is a
decided advantage in its favour.
It is not our province to adjust the claims relating to
the manner of exciting almost any number of currents
with a single generator and an electro-magnetic divider.
But all the visitors to the Palais de l’ Industrie have been
astonished by the regularity of the Lontin light and its
facility of combining the several arcs.
The other day the Ouest Railway Company established
in the terminus of La Rue Saint Lazare three rival lights :
Lontin, Parisian Company’s improved lights, and Jab-
lochkoff candles.
We decline to give a definite opinion of the respective
merits of the Lontin and Jablochkoff systems before the
moment when the numerous measures officially taken
with a new photometer and the expenses in coals, electric
carbon, and oil will be made public ; but we can say that
s-light seems to be one-third dearer, and one-hal? only
in general intensity.
Some of the great expectations raised when the Ja-
blochkoff light was first exhibited have proved groundless,
The shares of the gas companies have recovered from
their depression, and reached at least their former value.
But it cannot be said gas has conquered electricity, as
electric lighting, with all its variety of origin and regula-
tion, is gaining ground daily. Siemens’s agents are at
present fitting a large factory at Meaux with their regu-
lators and generators. The works of installation of the
Senate and Chamber of Deputies would have been im-
possible without the help of the electric light. A new
influential daily paper, Gi/ Blas, has opened on the
Boulevard de )’Opéra an ‘Halle aux Nouvelles,”’ with
no less than eight Jablochkoff candles. There is no
part of Paris where electric lighting has not been exhibited,
and its appearance is no longer a novelty, which is an all-
important thing for its propagation.
In the meantime there are other inventors trying to
generate electricity by new means. M. Beaudet has
started a bichromate battery which he calls uxpolarisad/e,
perhaps without any real ground, but which, at all events,
keeps in tolerable regulation for many days. M. Clamond
has continued to produce a real electric light out of a
series of thermal elements, which was considered as a
mere impossibility a few months ago. We cannot say if
the scheme of lighting by electricity out of a stove which
warms an establishment, or a furnace which creates
steam, is a Utopia, but we witnessed during some hours a
light generated by the Clamond process, and a large work-
shop uses no other lighting process during the present
winter.
The Municipal Council of Paris should open a public
competition for lighting a large place or building, and
invite all inventors of regulators and magneto-electric
machines to place their apparatus in the hands of a com-
petent commission, otherwise the question of electric
lighting will remain in the dark for years, as it will be
impossible for private individuals to decide which is the
cheapest light produced and the best regulator.
W. DE FONVIELLE
NOTES
WE regret to have to announce the death of Mr. George Wharton
Simpson, the editor of the Photographic News, which took place
at Catford Bridge on the 15th inst. He was well known to the
large circle of amateur and professional {photographers as an
able chemist, a lucid writer, and a careful experimenter. As one
of the very earliest followers of photography, he was fully
acquainted with all the many phases through which that technical
science has passed, and we believe that very rarely, if ever, did
he err in a matter of phctographic history or technology. There
existed between the readers of his journal and himself a feeling
of almost personal friendship, as no question was too trivial to be
answered in his notices to correspondents, and the answer given
was always of a kindly and helpful nature. To Mr. Simpson we
owe, amongst other things, the perfecting of the collodio-chloride
process, a process which for delicacy and permanency is up till
now unrivalled. Mr. Simpson was also an occasional contri-
butor to various daily and other journals, and some of these
articles we hope may be reprinted, since they are really succinct
histories of progress in the art-science with which he was so
greatly bound up. He will not easily be replaced in his editorial
position, since there are few, if any, who have lived through the
stirring times which have made photography what it is, and have
followed it with the attention which he bestowed upon it. The
large gathering of literary men and photographers at Abney
Park Cemetery on Tuesday last evinced the high esteem in which
he was held.
Ir is rumoured that Dr. William Ogle, Fellow of Corpus
Christi, Oxford, and Examiner in Natural Science in the
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
285
University, has been appointed to succeed Dr, Farr in the Regis-
trar-General’s Office.
Sir JosePH Fayrer, K.C.S.I., has been appointed Examiner
for the Medical Service of the Army in Anatomy and Physio-
logy, vice George Busk, F.R.C.S., who has resigned the
appointment,
THE first meeting of the Society of Telegraph Engineers will
take place on Wednesday, the 28th inst., when Mr. Preece, the
new president, will deliver his introductory address.
M. Dumas, who is the Chancellor of the French Academy,
pronounced the speech in answer to M. Taine, the new member. |
Everybody was struck by the spirited delivery and eloquence of
the venerable perpetual secretary of the Academy of Sciences.
The house was so full that even academicians were unable to find |
room on their benches.
Mr. CROOKEs has been exhibiting his wonderful experiments |
on radiant matter in Paris at the Ecole de Médecine, on Thursday,
January 8, and on Saturday, the 11th; at the Observatory on
Thursday, the 15th; and at the Société de Physique on Friday,
the 16th. On all these occasions Mr. Crookes met with great |
success. M, Salle, a well-known physicist, spoke in the name |
of Mr. Crookes, who superintended the experiments. M.
Gambetta and the Ministers of Public Works and of War were
present at the Observatory, as well as the most influential
members of the Institute.
THE Zimes Philadelphia Correspondent telegraphs on Sunday
that the Edison electric lights in Menlo Park were still burning to |
the extent of about eighty lamps. Mr. Edison, finding that defective |
vacuums have developed in a considerable percentage of the
lamps, has for several days been experimenting to improve the
mechanical construction of the glass globe containing the light
so as to insure a permanent vacuum. Mr. Edison’s friends
report that he is able to overcome the difficulty. Meanwhile,
the manufacturing of additional lamps has .heen delayed, while
no arrangements have yet been made practically to use the light
in New York,
THE correspondent of the Mew York Herald has interviewed
M.Dumas, M. Niaudet Breguet, Mr. Crookes, and M. Fontaine,
the president of the newly established Syndicat d’Electricité.
The object of the interviews was to obtain the opinion of these
gentlemen on the Edison light, and the results have been tele-
graphed to America, We can state that they are not against the
possibility of the success of Mr. Edison.
WE notice an important communication which was made by
Prof. Kessler at the annual meeting of the St. Petersburg Society
of Naturalists on January 8, on the ‘‘ Law of Mutual Help,” as
one of the chief agents in the development and progress of
organisms. Prof. Kessler, although an able follower of Darwinism,
thinks that the struggle for existence would be insufficient to
explain the progress in organic life, if another law, that of
sociability and of mutual help did not powerfully work for the
improvement of the organisms and for strengthening the species.
M. Severtsoff warmly supported this view, quoting several
examples which prove that the unsociable birds are in a state of
decay; so, for instance, although the system of robbing is
ideally organised by the hawks, nevertheless the species is in a
state of decay precisely because of its want of sociability.
ON January 10 the Russian Physical and Chemical Society
held at St. Petersburg its annual meeting. After the reports of
the secretaries Prof, Mendeleeff gave an interesting address on
the resistance of fluids ; he gave an historical sketch of the sub-
ject, and, pointing out how little it has hitherto been investigated,
and how important it is, he invited Russian physicists to give
special attention to that part of hydrodynamics, Prof, N.
| the body.
Beketoff, from Kharkoff, read a paper on the dynamics of
chemical reactions, and explained the electro-dynamical theory
he proposes to explain them. Prof. Lentz made a communica.
| tion on electrolysis, and M. Jablochkoff exhibited his new
galvanic element.
M. LE Bon, in rendering an account of the progress of his
observations on the comparative mean weights of male and
female skulls (Au//, of Paris Anthrop. Soc, t. v. fasc. 5) has
explained the precautions which he had taken to avoid errors
arising from considerations of the differences, bodily stature, age,
race, and social or civilised status. After taking all these con-
ditions into account, he finds a difference of 172 grammes in
favour of the skulls of men over those of women. He asserts
that while a newly-born girl has a heavier brain than a newly
born boy—an advantage which she rapidly loses—the women of
inferior races are relatively superior to those of highly civilised
races, in other words, woman does not advance, and consequently,
the differences between her and man are constantly augmenting.
If M, le Bon’s assertions are to be accepted as facts, they would
undoubtedly seem to point to the necessity of bringing the oppor-
tunities of intellectual culture more closely within reach of women,
but the learned doctor predicts that the abomination of desolation
will fall on society if women be removed from the happy ignorance
of their domestic hearths, Apart from his avowed preference
for women with the cerebral capacities of savages, M. le Bon’s
| memoir will be found of great use to the student of craniology,
by helping him to determine the mathematical relations of
different parts of the head, and their bearing on other parts of
We are glad to learn that the great value of his work
in elucidating various obscure questions of general anthropology,
have secured for it the award of the Godard prize for 1879.
AT Vienna a ‘‘ Verein fiir Héhlenkunde” has been formed»
with the object of investigating caves. Everybody taking an
interest in this subject may become a member. The subscription
is only 5 florins per annum, Dr, Franz von Hauer is the
president, and Prof, Ferdinand von Hochstetter the vice-pre-
sident of the new Society.
THE next German Anthropological Congress will be held at
Berlin early in August next, and will be accompanied by an
exhibition, illustrating prehistoric times in Germany. It will be
closely followed by a Geological Congress to be held in the same
city.
A MONUMENT of the late eminent naturalist and horticulturist,
Freiherr von Siebold, will shortly be erected in his native town
of Wiirzburg.
THE Japan papers record the fact that an enormous piece of
coral was lately dredged up near Tosa, It is stated to have five
branches, the stem being 15 inches in circumference and 5 feet
in length.
THE Section of the Society of Arts formed in 1874 for the
discussion of subjects connected with practical chemistry and its
applications to the arts and manufactures, has been this year
enlarged in its scope that it may include applications of physics
as well as chemistry. At the six meetings of the present year
the following papers will be read. The meetings are on Thursday
evenings at eight o’clock, and the dates have been selected so
that they do not clash with those on which the meetings of the
Chemical Society are held :—January 22, ‘* The Teaching of
Technical Physics,” by John Perry, late Professor of Engineer-
ing, Japan ; February 12, ‘Gas Furnaces and Kilns for Burning
Pottery,” by Herbert Guthrie, C.E.; March 11, “The Noxious
Gases Bill,” by Dr. S. K. Muspratt, F.C.S.; April 8, “On
Recent Improvements in Benzine Colours,” by F, J. Friswell,
F.C.S.; April 22, ‘On some Recent Advances in the Science
286
NATURE
[ Fan, 22, 1880
of Photography,” by Capt. Abney, F.R.S.; May 13, ‘On
some Physical Applications of Light,” by Prof. W. G. Adams,
F.R.S.
THE Zhunderer gun experiments were continued at Woolwich
last Friday, the object on that day being to test what is known
as the “‘ wedging” theory—the supposition that the tilting or
displacement of the wad had to do with the bursting of the
original gun. The experiments on Friday tended clearly to dis-
prove this theory.
THE Public Works Department at Yedo have just published
the Reports of Progress for 1878 and 1879 of the Geological
Survey of Japan under Mr. B. S. Lyman.
THE Indian papers state that experiments are about to be
made in Cyprus to test the possibility of cultivating mango
seeds, as well as the seeds of other Indian fruits and vegetables.
EARTHQUAKES are reported (1) from Weisskirchen, where on
December 22 at 5 A.M. a violent shock was felt ; (2) from St.
Blasien, in the Black Forest, where a shock was noticed on the
same day at 10 P.M. ; (3) from Idria (Carniola), where a subter-
ranean explosion took place at 8.30 P.M., combined with a
violent shaking of the ground and a cannon-like report. Several
shocks were felt at Churwalden (Switzerland, canton of Chur)
on January 7, between 2 and 4 A.M. ; the last shock was accom-
panied with a noise like that of thunder, so that people were
awoke and dogs howled. In the Domochleg and at Savagnino
only two shocks were felt, at 3h. 45m. and at 4h. 3om. The
shocks had the direction from north to south,
At Freiburg, in Breisgau, the beautiful and rare pheno-
menon of the fata morgana was observed at noon on December
16. While the sun was shining the fine pyramid of the Cathedral
tower showed itself reflected above, of course with the point
downwards. The reflecting stratum of air was almost at the
level of the summit of the tower, thus producing a most peculiar
effect.
WE are glad to see that the Epping Forest Field Club has
been successfully formed, under the presidency of Mr. R.
Meldola. From the tone which prevailed at the meeting of
January 10, we should think the Club is likely to do good work.
The original list of members is a pretty large one, and contains
several well-known names.
THE continuation of frosty weather has produced unprece-
dented effects on the Lower Loire round Saumur. The bed
of the river having an extent of about 1,000 yards, and the
depth of water being very shallow, the Loire was entirely
frozen and the flow of water towards the sea was almost entirely
stopped. The consequence was that the level of the water was
raised, and the walls protecting the low lands in danger of being
submerged. It was necessary to employ dynamite to open a
channel for the water. Unfortunately a part of the stream has
found its way into the low lands. New ice is coming from the
high lands, and the military have been ordered to work under
the orders of civilian engineers.
AN ascent of Mount Hekla was made last summer by a lady,
Miss Th, Petursson, daughter of the Bishop of Reykjavik, for
.the purpose of geological investigations. According to her
observations the temperature at the bottom of the larger craters
has of late risen considerably, while dense white columns of
steam were rising from crevasses and holes which were hardly
visible, The sulphurous odour of this steam was stronger than
usual, The observations seem to indicate an approaching erup-
tion of the volcano.
AN interesting archxological discovery has been made near
Lehmke (in the district of Oldenstadt) consisting of some 1,200
medizeval metal plates, so-called dractee. Most of them bear
the stamp of a lion in varying positions, others that of a figure
with sword and standard, and a horizontal key below. - The
objects in question are now in the possession of the ‘ Kreis-
hauptmann ” of Oldenstadt.
THE German Postmaster-General, Herr Stephan, and Dr.
Siemens, have succeeded in constituting an electro-technical
society, which has for its objects the furtherance and deve-
lopment of the technical application of electricity, the
progress of the knowledge of electricity by means of its technical
appliances, and the establishment of a place of meeting for
German technical electricians, whose scientific and commercial
interests will, of course, be greatly benefited by such mutual
intercourse,
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the
past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Afacacus erythreus) from
India, presented by Mr. F. C, Grosvenor ; two Bankiva Jungle
Fowls (Gallus bankiva), two Starred Tortoises (Zestudo stellata)
from India, presented by Mr. W. Dunn, C.E., C.M.Z.S.; a
Bar-tailed Godwit (Zimosa lapponica), a Grey Plover (Sguatarola
helvetica), six Knots ( 7ringa canulus), thirteen Dualins (7ringa
cinclus), European, presented by Mr. F. Cresswell; three
Chinchillas (CAinchilla lanigera) from South America, a Grey
Struthidea (Struthidea cinerea) from Australia, a Red-throated
Amazon (Chrysotis collaria) from Jamaica, purchased; two
Fulmar Petrels (Procellaria glacialis), North European, de-
posited.
OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN
THE ORION-TRAPEZIUM.—The following letter has been
addressed. to us by Prof. Holden, of the Naval Observatory,
Washington :—
**In NATURE vol. xxi. p, 117, there is a note on a seventh
star in the Orion-trapezium, which is 636 of G. P. Bond’s Cata-
logue. It is there rated as mag. 13°3. Two other stars, 612
and 618 of Bond’s catalogue are as near one of the larger stars as
636 is, and if it is intended to extend the nomenclature of seventh
star, eighth star, &c., to these stars (which seems inadvisable),
they should be included. Their positions from @' Orionis are :—
Mag. 4 u (1857'0) 4 4 (1857'0).
612 13°5 — 16°4 + 24°6
618 13°! — 104 + 24°6
The magnitudes are too faint for Argelander’s scale extended,
but serve to compare with that of 636 viz. 13°3.
‘* As tests for large telescopes, quite a number of small stars
discovered by Bond may be mentioned, whose positions are
given in Annals of the Harvard College Observatory, vol. v.
All of these really exist, as they have been repeatedly seen with
the 26-inch refractor of this Observatory. They are Nos. 595
(13°9m.), 601 (15°6), 608 (14°3), 621 (15°6), 625 (15°6), 631
(14°3), 666 (13°9), 677 (14°8), 676 (13°1), 642 (15°6), 675 (15°2).
The faintness of these stars (which are much better seen with a
low power than with a high one) speaks well for the diligence of
the late George Bond, whose search in this region was very
thorough. Other small stars exist in the neighbourhood as
follows :—
**1, Rosse, No. 56, near G.P.B. No. 581.
**2, A star, s.p., G.P.B. No. 724.
**3. A double-star, n.f., G.P.B. No. 685.
‘* (2 and 3 were discovered by Lassell.) ;
‘*4. Three stars in or near the region bounded by the lines
641 to 663, 663 to 652, 652 to 641.
‘5. A star or mass of nebula which is not yet three years of
age, has developed itself in the middle of the dark channel
half way between 669 and 642. The star (?) itself is, roughly,
equally distant from 669, 641, and 642.
‘** There are no stars within the trapezium.
“Cooper reports a star following G.P.B. 516 a few seconds.
I cannot find it. ;
‘* Any observations on these stars or on the celebrated variable
654 (frequently observed here) will be gladly received by mé,
¥an. 22, 1880]
NATURE
287
and I shall be happy to have such for insertion in a paper now
nearly ready on the Huyghenian region of this nebula.”
For the convenience of such observers as may not have ready
access to the ‘Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of
Harvard College, vol. v.,” which contains G. P. Bond’s elabo-
rate memoir on the nebula of Orion, the following differential
positions of the stars mentioned by Prof. Holden, with reference
to 6' Orionis, are extracted :—
Diff. R.A. Diff. Decl.
No. 516 ...—276°0 ...— 29°5
581 ...— 76°L ...—159°1
.- 46°9...- 15°0
wi 36°O...- 310
we 23°7...- 18°0
.- 80...- 36°0
w= 4 w- B
ot 3 «.— 4
oa
Diff. R.A. Diff. Decl.
No. 652...4 30°2...+171°6
0s 3332... + 10°O
55°5 ---+147'1
59°7 -..—195°8
63°3 ... + 100°0
74°5 +» 93°4
78°5 ...- 276
78°6 ...—201°4
wet ILQ... F1IU2 ws 97°T — 950
642...+ 13 «+ 48 724 ...+183°3 ...-—176°0
It will be remarked that Prof. Holden states there are actually
no stars within the trapezium. Mr. Burnham’s experience with
the 184-inch refractor at Chicago is to the same effect. ; in the
notes to his last catalogue of double stars, he writes : ‘‘ Several
observers have seen, or believe they have seen, other minute
stars in the trapezium, most of them using comparatively small
apertures. While making the measures given above, and at other
times, under very favourable conditions, the interior of the tra-
pezium and the vicinity of the principal stars were carefully
examined. There was not the slightest suspicion of any addi-
tional stars. If the sixth star itself had been double, with a
distance of 10, it could not have been overlooked. I have
very little faith in the real existence of these suspected stars after
the failure of this and other large refractors to show them.” And
he considers it is wholly improbable that they should all be vari-
able in such manner as to render them at all times invisible during
the last few years. Telescopes were not s> perfect forty years
since as they are now, and we might be perhaps justified in attri-
buting to optical illusion the supposed existence of the three stars
within the trapezium, recorded by De Vico in 1839, and the star,
near the ‘‘ fifth,” detected by Struve, which Gruithui-en claimed
to have discovered about the same time, and which he says
Schwabe had also seen with a 6-feet Fraunhofer. But what are
we to say to the observations of Dr, Huggins, as detailed in
vol, xxvi. of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society? They appear to point to something more than optical
illusion, and notwithstanding the negative testimony as to the
actual existence of stars within the trapezium, to render it desir-
able that a protracted examination of this region should be insti-
tuted with telescopes of suitable capacity. One of Dr. Huggins’s
stars is not far from the position of a star in De Vico’s diagram
(see Memoria intorno a parecchie Osservazioni . . . in Collegio
Romano, f Anno 1839, plate I., and Gruithuisen’s Astronomisches
Fahriuch, 1841, p. 143.
THE ToTAL SoLar EcLipsE oF JANUARY 11.—A Reuter’s
telegram brings intelligence of the successful observation of the
total phase in this eclipse on the Santa Lucia mountain, Cali-
fornia, with the important addition that an intra-Mercurial planet
has been again seen. In the longitude of this mountain the
duration of totality upon the central line, employing the elements
of the Nautical Almanac, would be only 38 seconds, with the
sun at an altitude of 12°; if the semi-diameters adopted for
eclipses in the American ephemeris are used, the duration would
be even less—hardly 27 seconds. Under such circumstances it
must have required very minute and skilful preparation and
considerable smartness of execution to insure the results
announced.
GEOLOGICAL NOTES
THE MSS. of Sartorius von Waltershausen, descriptive of
Etna, have been placed, we understand, in the hands of Prof.
von Lasaulx, of Breslau, with a view to publication. They will
complete the colossal pile which the veteran geologist erected
to the glory of his favourite mountain,
ANOTHER distinguished and venerable vulcanologist, ‘Dr.
Abich has gone to Vienna to prepare his petrographical descrip-
tions of the Caucasian region, in which he has been so long at
work, The facilities for the most delicate analyses of rocks and
minerals at Vienna have likewise attracted thither M. Renard, of
Brussels, who has been entrusted with the chemical and micro-
scopic investigation of the abyssal deposits brought by the
Challenger from its great ocean survey. M. Renard is at present
in this country arranging with the Challenger Commission as to
the prosecution and publication of his labours. His beautifully
drawn plates which illustrate the more remarkable facts brought
to light by the Challenger dredgings, are being exquisitely re-
produced by chromolithography in Vienna,
IN a recent number of the Bulletin of the United States
Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (a
publication still continued for a while, though the Survey itself
has ceased to exist), Dr. F. V. Hayden describes the Two Ocean
Pass which has for some years been known to separate the head
waters of the Yellowstone from those of the Snake River. He
confirms and extends previous accounts of this interesting locality,
showing that it is a flat meadow-like depression cut by erosion
on the watershed. During wet weather this marshy ground
becomes a lake which drains both ways, one branch finding its
way into the Pacific, and the other into the Atlantic, by one of
the longest routes for running water on the surface of the planet.
ProFr. MARSH continues his descriptions of the fossil treasures
continually arriving to increase the already ample stores at Yale
College. He remarks that while the Mosasauroid reptiles are
so rare in Europe that the type-specimen described by Cuvier still
remains the most perfect yet discovered here, and the only one
from which important characters have been made out, in North
America the group attsined a marvellous development, and was
represented by several families with numerous genera and spe-
cies, of which the relics of not less than 1,400 distinct individuals
are contained in the museum at Yale.
Dr. MICHEL Mourton of Brussels has in preparation a
work on the geology of Belgium. It will form an octavo
volume of at least 500 pages, containing full descriptions of the
different geological formations, with unpublished plates of the
microscopic structure of rocks, copious lists of fossils, and an
account of the industrial resources of each formation, and will
be followed by a complete bibliography of the geology, palzeon-
tology, and lithology of Belgium, The re-issue of Dumont’s
beautiful and most trustworthy geological map of Belgium natu-
rally suggests the desirability of some general guide to the public
in perusing the map or travelling through the country, for the
admirable prodrome of M. Dewalque can hardly now be procured.
Dr. Mourlon’s position as one of the Conservateurs of the Royal
Museum of Natural History, and his experience as a field geolo-
gist both before and since his connection with the Geological
Survey of Belgium, give him exceptioral advantages for the
preparation of such a work, which will no doubt be as duly
appreciated by his fellow-countrymen as it will be welcomed by
students of geology abroad.
PHYSICAL NOTES
OBSERVATIONS of phosphorescence phenomena in high vacua
of the nature described by Crookes and Maskelyne have been
lately made on a variety of substances by Herr Stiirtz of Bonn,
in company with Herr Miiller (Wied. Ann. No. 11), The fol-
lowing substances gave phosphorescence (those marked with an
asterisk were made red hot before being brought into the tube ;
in the ordinary state they showed little or no phosphorescence) :—
Brucite,* magnesite,* phosphate of magnesia, pitch-blende,
wolframite, cerusite, adularia, orthoclase,* -kaolin,* axinite,*
silicate of zinc,* zinc-spar,* double spar, apatite, franklinite,
azure spar, fergusonite,* apophyllite,* dolomite, ccelestine,* red
spinelle, cobalt-glance, stannite, baryta, chromate of iron, lazu-
lite, lepidolite, zinnwaldite, ankerite, greenockite, pectolith,
borax, cinnabar, leucite, sanidin, and Java meteoric stone of
1869. A few luminous points were observed in crystals of
arsenical iron and antimonite. Pieces of a phosphorescent sub-
stance made red hot are luminous with a different colour from
that of pieces of the same not made red hot. In cerusite the
phosphorescence is lost through heating. The authors give a list
of substances which do not phosphoresce.
A sysTEM of electrical storing, considered to be free from the
disadvantages of other systems, is described by Professors
Houston and Thomson in the Franklin Institute Yourmal for
December, 1879. They use 2 saturated solution of zinc sulphate
in a suitable vessel, having at the bottom a plate of copper, to
288
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
which is connected an insulated wire. At or near the top of the
vessel, and immersed in the solution, is placed a second copper
plate or one of hard carbon, or metal unchanged by contact with
zinc sulphate solution and less positive than metallic zinc ; this is
also connected with a wire. A current from a dynamo-electric
machine is sent in the direction from the lower to the upper
plate, the result being deposition of metallic zinc on the upper
plate and the formation of a dense solution of copper sulphate
overlying the under plate. The cell, after charging, constitutes
a gravity cell, and continues a source of electrical current till re-
conversion of all the copper sulphate into zinc sulphate, with
deposition of copper on the lower plate and removal of zinc from
the upper. The cells, in charging, may be arranged in multiple
arc or in series, and differently from that in discharging, according
to the object. The authors believe it possible to store and recover
50 per cent. or more of the 50 or 60 per cent. which good
dynamo-electric machines realise in external work of the power
used in driving them. Thus 25 per cent. of the original power
may be given out secondarily as electric current. Assuming that
in the best steam engines 20 per cent. of the heat energy of the
coal may be utilised, then about 5 per cent. of the heat energy, it
is thought, may be recovered after storage as current ; but even
with this small percentage the economy would be much superior
to the use of zinc and other materials in the ordinary battery in
production of current.
IN a recent paper to the Vienna Academy, by Prof. Exner, on
the theory of inconstant galvanic elements, proof is offered that
there is no so-called galvanic polarisation in elements, but that
the phenomena referred thereto are attributable to the oxygen
dissolved in water. The electromotive force of an element with
only one liquid appears accordingly as a constant which is in no
way affected by any polarisation of the negative pole. It is
further shown that the force of a Smee element is not altered
when its platinum is replaced by some other metal, provided
only this do not itself give rise to chemical processes.
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Dr. Emit Houvs will read a paper before the Royal Geo-
phical Society next Monday evening on his journey from the
Diamond Fields through South Central Africa to the upper
waters of the Zambesi. Dr. Holub, we understand, has for
some time been exhibiting at Prague a small museum of zoo-
logical and ethnographical curiosities collected during his various
journeys in Southern Africa, which has attracted much attention,
and he is coming to England to attend this meeting at the special
invitation of the Council of the Geographical Society.
THE Colonies and India reports the return of Mr. Alexander
Mitchinson after some years spent in Africa. He appears to
have arrived on the Gambia in 1876, and to have journeyed with
a smal) number of followers into various parts of Africa. Fol-
lowing the course of the Niger, he visited the waterfalls, and
returning to the west coast, made excursions into the country in
various directions. After a brief rest his travels were again
resumed, and from the Gaboon country Mr. Mitchinson made
his way into Angola, and from Benguela proceeded vid Bihé to
Lake Ngami, returning to the coast at Walfisch Bay at the end
of 1879. The notes which he made in the course of his travels,
are said to contain much interesting matter.
* IN the current number of the Zour du Monde M. Désiré
Charnay, the well-known archzological explorer of Southern
Mexico, Yucatan, and Madagascar, has commenced an account
of what he saw during the six months he recently spent in Aus-
tralia. His observations on the aborigines, their legends, cus-
toms, and traditions will no doubt be interesting, and his story
will certainly be well illustrated. M. Charnay, who returned to
Europe not long since, had, previously to his visit to Australia,
spent some time in the East Indian Archipelago,
Dr. BENJAMIN BRADSHAW, who was met by Major Serpa
Pinto, during his famous journey near the Zambesi, and who
was also with the late Mr. Frank Oates when he died near the
Tati settlement on his way from the Victoria Falls, arrived in
Capetown a short time ago, presumably to make another trial of
the ways of civilisation, Dr, Bradshaw has spent a long time
in the Matabele country and other parts of the Zambesi basin,
living the life of the natives and making zoological collections
for his own amusement and benefit. During his wanderings he
has acquired a considerable amount of information respecting
the less-known parts of the Zambesi and some of its tributaries,
ag we have reason to hope, may be made public before
ong.
A CORRESPONDENT in the Glasgow Herald advocates the
formation of a geographical society in that great commercial
centre, the second most populous city in the kingdom. We
have on several occasions pointed out the advantages of the
formation of such societies in our chief ports, by means of which
much useful information might be tapped that otherwise would
not see the light. No better field could be found for such a
society than Glasgow.
ProF. NORDENSKJGOLD and his staff evidently do not consider
that their work was finished when they got outside Behring’s
Strait in the Vega. During the brief stay of the ship at Galle
they made excursions into the island to examine its mineralogy
and natural history. Great preparations have been made for the
reception of the Vega at Naples. The King of Sweden desires
that the professor and the captain should visit Rome, Brussels,
Paris, and London, and join the vessel again at Copenhagen, to
be ultimately received at Stockholm.
Dr. Otto FinscH left Honolulu on July 30 last,"on board
the barque Hawaii, and arrived at Dshaloot, on the island of
Bonham (the principal island of the Marshall group) on August
21. He intended to investigate this island thoroughly, as it
appears that this has never before been done in a scientific
manner. From Bonham Dr. Finsch will proceed to the islands
of the Radak group.
News from Dr. Stecker, the well-known companion of Dr.
Gerhard Rohlfs, stated that he was going to leave Benghasi at
the beginning of the present month, in order to proceed to Bornu
by way of Fezan.
A FrRencH Company intends to cut a canal through the
Isthmus of Corinth. Steps have already been taken to obtain
the permission of the Greek Government.
THE German residents of Sydney have founded a branch of
the Berlin Central Union for Commercial Geography.
Mr. 1M THURN, of the Georgetown Museum, whose labours
in British Guiana have been referred to in NATURE, arrived in
England last week.
THE SIXTH CONGRESS OF RUSSIAN
NATURALISTS
THE Sixth Congress of Russian naturalists began at St.
Petersburg on January 1, by a public meeting in the great
hall of the University. The number of members present was
very large—1,200—of whom 500. were from the provinces, and
thirty-eight were ladies. Prof. Kessler was unanimously elected
President, but the bad state of his health not allowing him to
fulfil this function, he was made honorary president, Prof.
Beketoff being elected as the active one.
At the first public meeting, Prof. Wagner gave an interesting
address on the ‘‘ Means of Solution of the complicated Problems
of Natural Science,”’ and after a brilliant sketch of the methods
of science, he drew the attention of naturalists to the necessity
of the study of physiological chemistry, and especially of the
problems connected with albuminous matters.
Two — were then discussed :—On the scientific explo-
ration of Bulgaria, and on the necessity of making complete
botanical collections of Russian plants,
The second public meeting of the Congress, held on January 7,
was opened by an address by Prof. Timiriazeff, on the physio-
logical significance of chlorophyll in the life of plants, on the
absorption by it of solar rays, and on the limits of the produc-
tivity of the soil. After this the president proposed that the
several projects of scientific inquiries approved by the Congress
be transmitted to a special committee, which would remain as @
permanent institution after the Congress, and see to the carrying
out of these projects ; the proposal was unanimously accepted by
the Congress, and will be accomplished, if the Ministry of Public
Instruction does not oppose, as it has done hitherto, the creation
of a permanent scientific association of all Russian naturalists.
Prof. Mendeleef proposed the publication of a popular descrip-
tion of Russian colonies, being a sketch of their climate, soil,
flora, fauna, and economical conditions; the proposal was
approved, Prof, Dobroslavine gave an address on the relations
between natural sciences and hygiene. The latter has only one
int in common with epee oan pathology—whilst any
penguins in the department would be impossible if it were not for
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
289
the collective work of those who labour in the wide field of
natural «science, all most important advances in hygiene, being
made by the researches of eminent specialists in natural science.
Finally, Prof. Mendeleeff made the proposal to publish a new |
scientific periodical,
At the last public meeting of the Congress, Professors
Sokhotsky and Kovalsky made a proposal to found a Russian
Astronomical Society, and Prof, Tchebysheff proposed to solicit
from the Government pecuniary help to the Moscow Mathe-
matical Society ; both proposals were agreed to.
tion of animals. Prof, Andreieff developed the idea as to the
necessity of giving instruction in natural sciences in primary
schools, and M. Gerd ;gave an address on the impulse which
could be given to the study of nature in Russia, its flora, and
fauna, by the teachers of the primary schools; he demonstrated
by numerous facts that this help would be very effective,
as a great number of teachers would be ver; glad to work on |
that field ; therefore, he proposed to draw up good programmes
for these studies, as well as simple manuals of the necessary |
Both proposals were met with the warmest |
elements of science.
cheers of the numerous auditory, but we fear that they will meet,
as have former proposals of that kind, with strong opposition from
the actual Ministry of Public Instruction, After an address by
Prof, Wagner, on the sociability of animals, the Congress closed
its sittings ; the next Congress to be held at Odessa.
following communications :—By Prof. Davidoff, on a new
method for the exploration of functions, which method enables us
to deduce various theorems from one general principle; by M.
Preobrajensky, on the integration of Laplace’s equation by means
of quaternions, the communication having given rise to very
animated discussion ; and by M. Tchebysheff, on parallelograms,
being a brilliant exposition of their importance in mechanics,
together with a discussion of several points of theoretical import-
ance. An interesting memoir was read by Prof. Bougaeff, on
subtraction{in_the theory of numbers, which deals with several
important philosophical points of mathematical investigation.
Other communications were by MM. Markoff, Joukovsky, and Degree will again come on for discussion in congregation
Vasilieff, on Bernoulli’s equation.
In the Section of Physics and Meteorology we notice the fol-
lowing communications :—By M. Ziloff, on the magnetisation of
liquids ; by M. Collin, on the luminous properties of electrodes ;
by Prof. Oettinger, on electricity ; by M. Pantionkhoff, on the
meteorology of Bulgaria as compared with South-Western
Russia; by Dr, Woeikof, on the various causes of perturbations
in the diurnal changes of temperature; and by Baron Wrangel,
on changes of level in the Black Sea, This level has continuous
fluctuations ; it is always lower during the night, and reaches its
maximum at mid-day in all sea-ports of the northern and the
eastern coast; it is also at a minimum in October and a maxi-
mum in May, the difference between these two levels being 18
inches. The following communications of general interest were
also made in the Section of Physics :—Dr. Woeikof exhibited a
new map, showing the distribution of rainfall in all parts of the
world; M. Borgmann made a communication on the influence
of the inductive currents on the development of temperature
during magnetisation; Prof, Lemstrém (Helsingfors) expounded
his theory of terrestrial magnetism ; Prof. Tchebysheff read a
memoir on centrifugal regulators, and exhibited two of his in-
vention; and M. Tchikoleff, on electric lighting.
_In the Section of Geology and Mineralogy we notice commu-
nications by Prof. Lentz, on the level of the Amu-Darya; by
Prof. Fr. Schmidt, on recent formations on the shores of the
Gulf of Finland ; and by M, Armatelsky, on diluvial formations
in the Government of Chernigov,
_In the Sections of Botany and Zoology we notice the commu-
nications by M. Tikhomiroff on the bacteria which cause disease
of the bladder, and on the artificial production of these bac-
teria; by Prof. Ganin, on the development of fishes; and by
M. Sidoroff, on the insects destroying corn in Russia, ‘
A most interesting communication was made to the Section of
Physiology by Prof. Setchenoff, on the absorption of oxygen
and nitrogen by blood. Besides, we notice communications by
Prof. Goloubeff, on the vibratile epithelium ; by Dr. Tsiboulsky,
on a new method of determining the amount of blood in ani.
mals ; by M. Wedensky, on the innervation of the respiratory
motions of the Rana temporaria ; and by Prof. Tarkhanoff, on
the amount of blood of man,
‘ ) M. Severtsoff |
gave a very interesting lecture on the orographical structure of |
Central Asia and on its influence upon the geographical distribu- |
In the Section of Anthropology were the following commu-
nications :—By Prof. Stid (Dorpat), on the relation between
the indexes of the skull and that of the head ; by Dr. Lubinsky
on the sight, being the result of numerous observations upon the
| crews of the Russian navy, which observations establish a cer-
tain connection, difficult to explain, between the power of sight
and the breadth of the chest, The communication by M.
Dokouchaeff, on the pre-historic man of the downs of the Oka
river, deals with a subject of great interest, as he affirms that
the range of downs which we see along the whole of the course
of that river must afford a great amount of pre-historic remains,
as is the case with the downs of Volosovo and Lviniy, both
having yielded thousands of such remains. Prof. Inostrantseff
discussed at length the various sub-divisions of the stone period,
and M. Anoutchin gave an interesting note on the frontal
suture, which seems to appear most frequently in races of a
higher degree of civilisation,
An interesting feature of these Russian congresses is the
existence of two special sections, those of scientific medicine and
of hygiene ; the latter section has assumed a great importance,
thanks to the energy of several eminent hygienists, as Drs.
Erisman, Dobroslavine, Vyrouboff, and others. A question
being raised about the hygiene of railways, the section of hygiene
had two special sittings on this subject, and a committee was
appointed to draw up a programme of investigations on the
dress of railway employés, the number of hours of work,
L | the sanitary state of railway stations, and of dwellings of
In the Section of Astronomy and Mathematics we notice the |
employés, accidents, the transport of cattle, &c. A great number
of other questions, as to the disinfection of dwellings, epidemics,
&c., were discussed, and we hope that the work of the section
will be of great importance for this kind of investigation.
Several other important communications were made in the
Physical Society, and in the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists.
which both have had their annual meetings during the Congress.
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
Oxrorp.—On February 3 the question of the Natural Science
Last
term, it will be remembered, the proposal to grant a special
| natural science degree was defeated after a close division, the
principal opposition to the motion coming from the scientific
members of congregation. It was thought that a separate
science degree, not carrying with it the privileges of the master
of Arts Degree, would be regarded as an inferior degree, and tend
to lower the position of science in the University. A clause is
now proposed by an influential body of residents—including
Prof. Odling, Dr. Mark Pattison, Rector of Lincoln, A. Vernon
Harcourt, Prof, Green, Prof. Lawson, and Prof, Nettleship—to
the following effect:—‘‘ Every person who shall have been
admitted to the degree of Master of Natural Science, shall also
be admitted to the degree of Master of Arts.”
At the University Museum Prof, Clifton will continue his
course on Statical Electricity and Magnetism ; Dr, Odling will
continue his lectures on Organic Chemistry on Mondays and
Fridays at noon, instead of on Mondays and Thursdays as here-
tofore. The examination for the Radcliffe Travelling Fellow-
ship will begin in the Museum on Tuesday, February 10, at
10 A.M. Candidates are requested to send in their names to Dr.
Acland, at the Museum, on or before February 1.
At Christ Church Mr. Vernon Harcourt will form a class and
lecture on Quantitative Analysis; Mr. Baynes will lecture on
Thermodynamics and Electrodynamics,
M. Roucet, Professor of Physiology in the Faculty of Medi-
cine at Montpellier, is nominated Professor of General Physiology
in the Museum of Natural History of Paris, in succession to the
late Claude Bernard.
SCIENTIFIC SERIALS
Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 12, 1879.—Analogies
between fluidity and galvanic conductivity, by O. Grotrian.—On
the magnetisation of iron rings, by A. v. Ettingshausen. —The ball-
shaped electro-dynamometer, by J. Fréhlich.—On gradual passage
of the band-spectrum of nitrogen into a line-spectrum, by A,
Wiillner.—On Stokes’s law, by S. Lamansky.—On a bi-constant
dispersion formula, by E. Lommel.—On the dichroitic fluores-
cence of magnesium-platinum-cyanide ; experimental proof of
290
NATURE
[ Fan. 22, 1880
the perpendicularity of the light vibrations to the plane of
polarisation, by E. Lommel.—On a small alteration of the
Bunsen grease-spot photometer, by A. Toepler.—On the refrac-
tion of sound-waves, by K. W. Schellbach and E, E, Boehm.—
On the specific heat of water according to Dr. Baumgartner’s ex-
periments, by L. Pfaundler.—Reply to the observation of O. E.
Meyer, by L. Boltzmann.—On the application of the telephone
to measurements of resistance, by F, Niemdller.—On the motion
of glaciers, by K. R. Koch and F. Klocke.—On hailstones with
ice-crystals, by Ed. Hagenbach.—On hailstones of uncommon
size, by P. Merion. (In a paper prefixed to this number, Prof.
Clausius defends himself against some aspersions, by Herr
Diihring, regarding'his relations to Robert Mayer, @ propos of the
mechanical theory of heat.)
THE Sitzungsberichte der naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft
Jsis in Dresden (1879, January to June) contain the following
papers of interest :—On the recent geographical and geological
investigations of the United States of America, by Dr. Geinitz.
-—On the coal flora of the Lugan coal-pits, by H. Krone.—On
the constitution of dichlornitrophenol, by Dr. Schmidt.—On a
new form of the influence machine, by Dr. Tépler.—On the
action of chloride of lime upon absolute alcohol, by Dr. Gold-
berg. —On a gas-stove with arrangement for oxidation, by Dr.
Hempel.—On a new dye, by Dr. Schmitt.—On the isomerism
of ethanes, by Dr. Goldberg.—On the tension of threads and
Poggendorff’s fall machine, by Dr. Amthor,—On a discovery
from the later stone period made in Bohemia, by W. Osborne
(with 5 plates),—On the prehistoric centres of culture in Schles-
wig, by Herr Michelsen,—On some objects found by Dr. Schlie-
mann in his excavations in Greece and Asia Minor, by Dr.
Fiedler.—On a discovery of urns at the Hradischt, near Stra-
donic (Bohemia), by W. Osborne.—On the occurrence of Cas-
tanea vesca, L., by Dr. Friedrich.—Various smaller botanical
papers of minor interest.—On the theory of Watts’s centrifugal
regulator, by Dr. Ritterhaus.—On some galvanometric methods
of multiplication, by Dr. Tépler.—Remarks on Wallengren’s
work concerning Linnzeus’s species of the genus Phryganea, by
M. Rostock.—On the Neuroptera of Saxony, by the same; a
most elaborate treatise with complete list and catalogue.—On
the Hemiptera fauna of Transcaucasia, by Dr. von Horvath._—
Obituary notices of Dr, Eduard Lésche and H. G. Ludwig
Reichenbach.
Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, vol. xii. fase.
xvii.-xviiii—This number contains a survey of the year’s work,
announcements of prizes awarded (wi-h abstracts of memoirs),
and of prize subjects, &c.
Fasc. xix.—Stratigraphic observations on the precarboniferous
formation of Valtellina and Calabria, by S. Taramelli.—On the
dilatation of the heart in disorders of the ventricle, by Prof, de
Giovanni.
Fournal de Physigue, December, 1879.—We note here the
following :—Measurement of the wave-length of obscure calorific
rays, by M. Mouton.—Displacement between oxygen and the
halogen elements united with metals, by M. Berthelot.—A
spectroscope for studying the phenomena of fluorescence, by M.
Lamansky.
Journal of the Franklin Institute, December, 1879.—On a
new theory of the retaining wall, by Prof. Du Bois.—A system
of electrical storage, by Professors Houston and Thomson,—
Steam boiler explosions, by Messrs. Corbin and Goodrich.
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES
LONDON
Royal Society, January 15.—‘‘ On Chemical Repulsion,” by
Edmund J. Mills, D.Se., F.R.S.
While engaged in some researches on the propagation of
chemical change, I have incidentally encountered a new order of
phenomena, which the title ‘‘chemical repulsion” may serve
provisionally to designate. A brief outline of the experiments is
given in the following paragraphs.
Upon a glass plate, laid in a horizontal position, is poured
enough solution of baric chloride to cover it canning to a
considerable depth. On this solution is placed another glass
plate, provided with a small central perforation; when the two
plates are firmly pressed together with the hands, most of the
solution is extruded, and only a very thin layer of it left between
the plates. All excess of the solution having been removed
from the outer surfaces of the plates as well as from the perfora-
tion, some dilute hydric sulphate is now introduced into the
perforation. This reagent attacks the baric chloride, throwing
down a white precipitate of sulphate ; and, proceeding partly by
diffusion, partly by flow, does not cease to widen in every direc-
tion its figure of advance, until the edges of the plates are
attained. If the perforation is circular, the figure of advance is
pt in other words, the chemical development of a circle is
a circle,
Let us now suppose the two plates to be square and equal, and
let the upper one have two circular perforations, equidistant
from the centre of the square, and situated upon its diagonal.
Let also two circular developments of baric sulphate be caused
to proceed, as before, from the two perforations simultaneously,
At first nothing remarkable is observed, but in a short time, the
two growing circles begin to exercise a visible retardation on
each other’s progress ; so that the figure of advance is no longer
circular, but oval, [This retardation is of course observed only
between the perforations; and not outside them, where the
motion is entirely free.] As the development of the fizures
continues, so also does the retardation at their neighbouring
edges increase ; the final result being (however long the experi-
ment may be prolonged), that the other diagonal of the square
is completely and permanently traced out in a line of no chemical
action.
The above experiments are of fundamental importance, and
they obviously adinit of endless variety. Of this, a few illustra-
tions may suffice.
If the upper plate have three perforations, situated on the
points of a central equilateral triangle, there are three repulsion
lines ; these end at the centre of the triangle, where they form
a trilocular point, and traverse its sides midway at right angles.
When the upper plate has four perforations, situated on the
points of a central square, there are four, repulsion lines; these
end at the centre of the square, where they form a quadrilocular
point, and traverse its sides midway at right angles,
A very beautiful modification of the preceding experiment
consists in simultaneously developing a circle from a (fifth)
central perforation, This last circle has no means of escape
from the surrounding four. The result is, that it eventually
forms a square figure bounded by repulsion lines, and having
four symmetrically situated repulsion lines at its corners.
It is easy to demonstrate that the chemical repulsion in these
experiments does not depend upon flow. Two superimposed
triangular plates, for instance, in neither of which is any perfora-
tion, give three repulsion lines on immersion in dilute hydric
sulphate. From each corner a line proceeds midway (if the
triangle be equilateral) to the centre. In this effect diffusion is
alone concerned.
In addition to hydric sulphate and baric chloride, other pairs
of reagents may be used with success ; and I anticipate no diffi-
culty in obtaining results in which precipitation is not concerned.
A beginning has also been made with experiments in tridimen-
sional development.
The complete explanation of what I have termed ‘‘ chemical
repulsion” will probably demand a varied and considerable
amount of experimental work. From some incidents of the
investigation, so far as it has hithert> proceeded, I am disposed
to believe that the motion in any plane chemical figure is not
along the radius, but at right angles to the radius ; and this sup-
position will, if verified, explain the repulsion. The existing
results afford proof of the following propositions, viz. :—
(1) Chemical action can take place at a distance ; and (2) Two or
more chemical actions, identical except in position, completely
exclude one another.
Chemical Society, January 15.—Mr. Warren De La Rue,
president, in the chair.—The following papers were read :—On
the effects of the growth of plants on the amount of matter
removed from the soil by rain, by Dr. J. H. Prevost. Soil
3 inches deep was placed in two glazed earthenware pans
17 inches in diameter on July 21 ; 4 grm. of white clover seed
was sown in one, the other being blank. The pans were
exposed till October 4. The drainage-water was collected and
analysed ; that from the clover soil contained 48*1 grains of solid
matter per gallon, the other 220, The author concludes that
rain removes much more matter from an uncropped than from @
cropped soil.—Mr. Wynter Blyth described a simple apparatus
for the treatment of substances in open dishes to volatile solvents.
The dish is placed inside a cast-iron pan, and covered with a
glass bell-jar, with condenser attached, the joint between the
bottom of the pan and the bell-jar being made tight with
Fan. 22, 1880]
NATURE
291
mercury.—On dibromanthraquinones, by Mr. W. H. Perkin. By
heating bromine with anthraquinone, a dibromanthraquinone
is formed, melting at 245°C. ; by boiling tetrabromanthracen with
chromic acid, dissolved in’a large excess of glacial acetic acid, an
isomer 8 dibromanthraquinone is obtained, melting at 275° C.
By the action of caustic alkalies on these bodies, alizarin is formed
in both cases, The author discusses the formation of this
substance, In the case of the a body, two other colouring
matters were formed with the alizarin, one dyeing mordants, the
other not. The author is investigating these bodies. He
appends a note in which he concludes on further examination
that Auerbach’s isopurpurin is a mixture of flavopurpurin and
anthrapurpurin, and is not identical with anthrapurpurin.—Mr.
Warington contributed some notes on some practical points
connected with his laboratory experience. He has used with
great convenience the indiarubber joint covered with mercury,
which was proposed by Dr, Frankland as a substitute for the
steel blocks connecting the laboratory and measuring tubes. At
first the indiarubber wore out rapidly ; this was prevented by
tying it above the conical stopper as well as below He re
commends the coating of laboratory benches, &c., by heating the
wood and then rubbing in paraffin; the wood is thus protected
from the action of acids. In the determination of nitrates by
Frankland’s process, the author suggests the addition of a drop of
dilute hydrochloric acid, to ensure a complete reaction between
the mercury and the nitric acid. By means of a solution of
diphenylamine in strong sulphuric acid, the author has detected
by the blue coloration produced yyjysth of a milligram of
hydrogen as nitric acid.—On the melting and boiling points of
certain inorganic substances, by T. Carnelly and W. C. Williams.
Zoological Society, January 6.—Prof. Flower, F.R.S.,
president, in the chair.—Prof. Newton, M.A., F.R.S., V.P.,
exhibited, on behalf of Mr. G. B. Corbin, a speciwen of Acan-
thyllis (sive) Chetura caudacuta, the Needle-Tailed Swift, shot
near Ringwood, in Hampshire, in July, 1879, remarking that it
was the second example of this Siberian species which had been
obtained in England.—Mr, John Henry Steel, F.Z.S., read a
series of preliminary notes on the individual variations observed
in the osteological and myological structure of the Domestic Ass
(Zquus asinus).—A communication was read from Mr, E, W.
White, C.M.Z.S., containing notes on the distribution and
habits of Ch/lamyphorus truncatus, from observations made by
the author during a recent excursion into the western provinces
of the Argentine Republic, undertaken for the purpose of ob-
taining a better knowledge of this animal.—Dr. John Mulvany,
R.N., read a paper on a case which seemed to him to indicate
the moulting of the horny beak in a Penguin of the genus
Endyptts.—Mr. O. Thomas, F.Z.S., read the description of a
new species of MZus, obtained from the island of Ovalau, Fiji,
by Baron A, von Hiigel, and proposed to be called Mus huegeli
after its discoverer.—A communication was read from Mr. R.
G, Wardlaw Ramsay, F.Z.S., containing a report on a collec-
tion of birds made by Herr Bock, a naturalist employed by the
late Lord Tweeddale, in the neighbourhood of Padang. Three
species were described as new and proposed to be called Dicrurus
sumatranus, Turdinus marmoratus, and Myiophoneus castaneus.
—Dr. Giinther, F.R.S., read adescription of two new species
of Antelopes, of the genus Meotragus, N. hirki, from Eastern
Africa, and NV. molaris, from Damaraland.
Geological Society, January 7.—Henry Clifton Sorby,
president, in the chair.—Edward Bagnall Poulton was elected a
Fellow, and Prof. A. E. Nordenskjold, Stockholm, and Prof.
F, Zirkel, Leipzig, Foreign Members of the Society.—The
following communications were read :—On the Portland rocks
of England, by the Rev. J. F. Blake, F.G.S. The author gave
a general account of the relation of the several Portland rocks
in the areas of their development to each other, and hence de-
duced the history of the Portland ‘‘episode.” The name is
used on the Continent in a wider sense than in England, and
this use was shown to be unjustifiable. After giving an account
of his observations on the rocks at Portland itself, and dividing
the limestones into the building-stone and flinty series, the author
showed that the so-called ‘‘ Upper Portlandian” of Boulogne
corresponds to the latter, and the upper part of the ‘Middle
Portlandian” to the Portland sand, He then endeavoured to
prove, by the proportionate thickness, the indications of change
in the lithology, and the distribution of some of the fossils, that
ae ae, of the ——— ‘ Middle” and the ‘‘ Lower Port.
I "are represent y integral portions of the Upper
Kimimeridge, which are thus the “‘ oly ” form cortenponiing
to what the author calls the ‘‘ Boulognian episode.” The series
in the Vale of Wardour has been made out pretty completely.
The Purbeck is separated by a band of clay from the Portland,
and is not amalgamated with it. The building-stones and flinty
series are here seen again; and a fine freestone occurs at the
base of the latter. The representatives of the Portland sand
were considered to be older than those of other districts. The
relations of the Purbeck to the Portland rocks at Swindon were
very carefully traced; and it is shown that, while the upper
beds ‘of the latter put on here some peculiar characters, the
former lie on their worn edges. The upper beds of the Port-
land, which have been referred to the sand, correspond to the
freestone and the base of the flinty series of the Vale of War-
dour ; hence the Purbecks of Swindon may be coeval with the
upper beds of the Portland to the south. At the base of the great
quarry and elsewhere in the neighbourhood are the ‘‘ 7rigonia-
beds,” beneath which is clay, hitherto mistaken for the Kimmer-
idge clay ; and beneath this are the true Portland sands, with
an abundant fauna new to England. The limestones of Oxford-
shire and Bucks were considere1 to represent the ** 7rigonia-
beds ” only; and, as the Purbecks here lie for the most part
conformably, it was suggested that they were formed ina lake
at an earlier period than those at Swindon, which are of a more
fluviatile character. Hence the Portland episode, considered as
marine, was at an end in the north before it was half completed
in the south.—On the correlation of the drift-deposits of tke
north-west of England with those of the midland and eastern
counties, by D. Mackintosh, F.G.S.
Anthropological Institute, Jan. 13.—John Evans, D.C.L.,
F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.—Dr, Hack Tuke read a
paper on *‘ The Cagots.” The author showed that the popular
etymology of the word Cagot, from ‘‘ Canis Gothi,” is probably
inaccurate, and accepted the suggestion of ‘M. de Rochas, that
Cagot is derived from the Celto-Breton word caced (leprous) ; it
is easy to see how readily this would assume the form of cacou
(as it is in Brittany actually applied to these people), and so the
French Cagou or Cagot. The conclusions at which the author
arrived as to the origin of the Cagots were as follows:—1. The
Cagots are not the descendants of the Goths; they are not a
distinct race, but a despised class among the people of the
country in which they live. 2. They are not more subject to
goitre or to cretinism than the inhabitants of the adjacent district
—in short, cagotism and cretinism are in no way allied. 3. The
present representatives of the Cagots are now recognised by tradi-
tion, and not by their features, and are not distinguished by any
peculiar mental or physical disorder. 4. Although nothing like
leprosy, or leucoderma, has for a long time affected the Cagots,
and no one on the spot regards them in this light, there is
evidence to show that they were originally either lepers labouring
under a particular variety of leprosy, or were affected with leu-
coderma, the form of the affection accounting for their being
regarded as in some respects different from ordinary lepers,
though shunned in the same way. 5. Many were, no doubt,
falsely suspected of leprosy in consequence of some slight
skin affection ; others, again, in later centuries, were members
of families in which the disease had died out.—The Director
read two papers by Mr. Alfred Simson, on the Jivaros
and the Canelos Indians, The tribe of the Jivaros is a
large one, and one of the most distinguished, independent,
and warlike in South America, They speak a language
of their own, Jivaro, and occupy the country generally from
the Upper Pastassa to the Santiago, both rivers included,
down to the Pongo de Manseriche, on the Marafion. They
are hospitable, and their houses are large and built of
palms, They have a most perfect method of scalping, by which
the victim’s head is reduced to the size of a moderately large
orange, maintaining tolerably well all the features : the skinis cut
round the base of the neck, and the entire covering of the skull
removed in one piece. This is then dried gradually by; means
of hot stones placed inside it, until the boneless head shrinks to
the required size. They also wear their slain enemies’ hair in
long plaits round the waist. Great festivities take place when a
child, at three or four years of age, is initiated into the art and
mysteries of smoking. The Jivaros of the Pintue have the
habit of vomiting nearly every morning by the aid of a feather,
arguing that all food remaining in the stomach overnight is un-
wholesome and undigested, and should therefore be ejected.
Canelos, the once attractive Spanish settlement, but now
forlorn Indian village, is situated on the left bank of the Bobo-
naza, one of the most important, if not the largest, of the
292
NATURE
[Fan. 22, 1880
tributaries of the Upper Pastassa, and is inhabited by a mixed
tribe of Indians in whom the chief element is Jivaro, though
some of the better traits of these seem to be wanting in them.
Their language is Quichua. Their fighting is done entirely with
the lance, which is their inseparable companion, and all the
author’s attempts to induce any of them to part with his weapon
were fruitless.
PARIS
Academy of Sciences, January 12,—M. Edm, Becquerel in
the chair.—M. Daubrée presented the second part of his
Synthetic studies of experimental geology ; it treats chiefly of the
chemical and mechanical phenomena of meteorites (which are
compared with the deeper rocks).—On meteorological observa-
tions in May at Zi-ka-wei, in China, by M. Faye. Storms go
from China to Japan, following a like course to that of storms
coming to Europe from the Atlantic. They are independent of
the prevailing monsoon, and conversely, neither preventing the
other. M. Faye finds support for the theory of gyratory move-
ments propagated downwards.—On the kinematic geometry of
deformations of bodies, elastic, plastic, or fluids, by M. De Saint
Venant.—Some observations on a note of M. Wurtz (C. 2.,
December 22, 1879), by M. Sainte-Claire Deville.—Evolution
of the inflorescence in Graminez (first part), by M. Trécul. He
considers here (1) the formation of the primary axis; (2) the
order of appearance of the branches ; (3) that of their growth.—
Influence of the nature of carbons on the electric light, by M.
Tu Moncel. In 1855 he called attention to the advantages of
using carbons of vegetable origin for the electric light. In 1859 he
produced an electric candle with plates of charcoal in a tube.—On
the disaccord apparent between the heights recently observed
on the Seine and the previsions of the hydrometric service in the
passage through Paris, by MM. Lalanne and Lemoine. M.
Belgrand’s empirical laws-apply only to the natural state
of the river, but ceased to apply in the early days of January,
owing to the effects of the abnormal freezing of the Seine (which
occurs several times in a century). M. Dumas and Gen. Morin
made some remarks, the General pointing out that the breaking
up of the ice sometimes proceeds up the river, sometimes down ;
in the latter and more dangerous case explosives and other
means should be promptly used to open the block.—On the
photographic spectra of stars, by Dr, Huggins.—State of the
tunnelling operations of St. Gothard, by M. Colladon. The
works have been retarded. From November 11 to January 1
(fifty-one days) the advance of the north gallery was only
3490 m, against 173‘10 m, in the forty-nine days previous, This
was due to pressure of an unresistant rock met with, which
crushed the strongest wood-work, The perforation will likely
be complete in the end of February or beginning of March.—On
treatment of phylloxerised vines, by M. Marés.—On glyco-
genesis in infusoria, by M. Certes. Treated with iodised serum,
they present similar effects to those whereby M. Ranvier, with
this substance, proved the [ pomeer of glycogen in lymphatic
cells. (The effects on several organisms found with infusoria are
also indicated.) The vitality of animalcules is an important
factor in glycogenesis.—Resistance of pucerons to severe cold, by
M. Lichtenstein, Phylloxera and others successfully resisted
cold of 11° and 12° below zero in December.—Determi-
nation, by M. Gylden’s methods, of the motion of the planet
Hera (103), by M. Callandreau.—On the polygons inscribed
in a conic, and circumscribed on another conic, by M. Dar-
boux.—Solar cyclone, by M. Thollon. Observing a peculiarly
dark spot on January 3, he perceived two opposite deflections of
the line C, corresponding to velocities of 60 and 137 km. respec-
tively, in the vast cyclone.—On the thermal laws of the electrie
sparks produced by ordinary partial discharges of condensers
(second note), by M. Villari. The galvanometric deflections caused
by incomplete discharges are proportional to the quantities of
electricity forming the discharges. The heat generated by the
spark is directly proportional to the quantity of electricity
forming the spark.—Variations of the netic declination
deduced from regular observations at Montcalieri in the period
1871-78, by M. Denza. These agree in the main with observa-
tions at other Italian places, and at Prague, Christiania, Munich,
and Greenwich, pointing to cosmical causes.—On the Thomson
galvanometer, by M. Gaiffe. The scale-indications are not pro-
ee to the values of the currents measured, the angles of de-
ection of the needle being doubled by reflection of the mirror,
This source of error he seeks to correct by using a bifilar suspen-
sion formed of two cocoon-fibres.—On the potash-contained in
the clay of arable soils, by M. Perrey. Clay constantly contains
potash varying ordinarily from 2 to 5 per cent., sometimes from
1°8 to 7°3 per cent.—On the tension of dissociation of hydrate of
chloral, and on the vapour-tension of anhydrous chloral, by MM,
Moitessier and Engel.—Effects of intra-venous injections of
sugar and gum, by MM. Moutard-Martin and Richet. Sugar
injected into dog’s veins always causes polyuria and glycosuria,
and does not affect the blood-pressure. Gum has an opposite
effect ; it diminishes the polyuria iously produced by sugar,
and at length completely stops the secretion of urine ; it also
increases notably the tension of blood in the arteries.—On the
phenomena arising from ligature of :the inferior vena cava above
the liver, by M. Picard,
a
VIENNA
Imperial Academy of Sciences, October 23, 1879.—The
earthquakes of Carinthia and their lines of shock, by Prof,
Hoefer.—On the histiogenesis of sclerosis of the posterior fibres
of the spinal cord, by Dr. Weiss.—On the forces operative on
diamagnets, by Prof. Bolzmann.—Determination of path of the
planet Bertha (154) by Herr Anton,
November 6, 1879.—The long-haired common guinea-pig
(Cavia Cobaya longipilis), by Dr, Fitzinger.—Fish-fauna of the
Cauca and the rivers in Guayaquil, by Dr. Steindachner,—
Shell-fish fauna of the Galapagos Islands, by Herr Wimmer,—
The von Miiller collection of Australian fish, by Dr. Klunzinger,
—On the humour passages of hyaline cartilage, by Dr. Spina.
—Magnetic measurements in Kremsmiinster in July, 1879, by
Herr Liznar.—On compounds from animal tar: III. Lutidine,
by Prof. Barth and Herr Herzig.
November 13, 1879.—Researches on the development of the
central nerve-tissue, by Herr Stricker and Dr. Unger.—On the
action of the safety- valve in steam boilers, by Herr von Burg.—
Firing under water, by Herr Lorber.
November 20, 1879.—The following among other papers were
read :—The sporogon of Archidium, by Prof. Leitgeb,—Con-
tributions to a knowledge of the hen’s germ at the commencement
of brooding, by Herr Koller.—On the last multiplier of differ-
ential equations of higher order, by Prof. Winckler.
December 4, 1879.—On the striction line of the hyperboloid
as rational space-curve of fourth order, by Herr Migotti.—On
processes of degeneration and regeneration in uninjured peripheric
nerves, by Prof. Mayer.
December 11, 1879.—On waterspouts observed near Canea,
by Herr Miksche.—Researches on the course of conduction in
the spinal cord of the dog, by Dr. Weiss.—A contribution to
the theory of urine-secretion, by Dr. Gartner.—On a new isomer
of gluconic acid, by Herr Hénig.—On the theory of inconstant
galvanic elements, by Prof, Exner. rw
CONTENTS Pace
On THE PxHorocrapnic Spectra oF Stars. By W. Huacns,
D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. (With [ilustrations) a
Vocat Puysiotocy AND Hycriene. By Dr. Wiit1aM Po g, F.R.S.
Tue Coprer-Tin ALtoys. By W. CHANpDtER Roserts, F.R.S.. .
Our Boox SHEuF :—
Pickard-Cambridge’s ‘Spiders of Dorset, with an Appendix con-
taining Short Descriptions of those British Species not yet found
irr Dorsetshire ”’
Causes, and the Means of Preventing them” . . .
LetTers TO THE EDITOR :—
Ice-Crystals.—The Duxe of ARGytL. . . . 2 2 se eo
Re-Reversal of Sodium Lines.—C, A. YounG .... + «
Death of Capt. Cook.—Rosert Mauuet, F.R.S. . . 2. 2 + +
Electricity of the Blowpipe ‘‘ Flame.”—Col. W. A. Ross
Suicide of Scorpion.—F. GittMan *) «
The Fertilisers of Alpine Flowers.—Dr. HERMANN MOLLER . -
“ Tdeal’’ Matter.—Percy R. HARRISON . .
Sun-Spots.— Henry Beprorp} . . 4
A Clever Spider.—Li. A. MorGAN . . « « + 2 «© « =
Erratum in Paper on Tidal Friction. —G. H. Darwin, F.R.S. .
ArGHaN Erunotocy. By A. H. Keane . .
Tue Mereoro.ocy or SourH AUSTRALIA. .-
AlcGe... .
Gas AND Ex .
ROUER os vow: wie ee ele . .
Our Astronomicat CoLtumN:—
The Orion-Trapezium .
The Total Solar Eclipse
Grotocicat Nores
Puysicau Norss .
Geocrapuicat Nores . . + ++ + + # « +
Tue Stxtu Concress or Russian NATURALISTS
University aND EpucaTIONAL INTELLIGENCE .
Screntiric SerIAts . «. -
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